


Stumbling Through the Inquisition

by Veev



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Modern Girl in Thedas, Sarcasm, Slow Build, The Fade
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-27
Updated: 2015-08-28
Packaged: 2018-04-11 14:24:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4438883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veev/pseuds/Veev
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Somehow I was transported into this strange archaic world. I got an ugly gash in my hand and suddenly I was being worshiped left and right. On top of everything everyone expected ME to save the world. No pressure, right?<br/>In other words this is the story about my (mis)adventures as the hesitant leader of the Inquisition.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Staircase

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time publishing a story I've written, please, be gentle with your comments;). I would also like to mention that English is not my first language bear that in mind. I'll try to correct any mistakes as soon as they are brought to my attention.  
> I'll try to post a new chapter at least once a week. Tags will be added as I progress with the story. I plan to use dialogue from the game (not everything only the parts I like) so don't be surprised if a part seems familiar.  
> Enjoy:D

When I woke up lying on the hard cold ground in my PJ's surrounded by thick green fog and sharp rocks, I didn't know what to think. Dreaming didn't seem likely as my sleep was blessedly dreamless but what else could it be? I didn't go to sleep in some freaky foggy land. I was going to do a test. Pinching my forearm should be enough to wake up and I would promptly forget this ever happened.

Pinching my forearm really wasn't a good idea it freaking hurt! If I ever had a dream again I was not going pinch anything again. Who came with such a stupid idea anyway? This was all in my mind anyway. Stupid mainstream propaganda…

I looked around. It was really hard to see anything, the fog was so thick. But I thought there was some light in the distance. It was much higher than me it looked like it was floating in the air moving up and down constantly. It was the only visible thing except the fog so I decided to find out what it was; it wasn’t like I could do anything else.

“Ouch, that hurt!”I cried out loudly as I stumbled around tripping over what seemed like every single rock in my way. Then I saw a staircase. It appeared right in front of me emerging from the fog suddenly. And the stairs were huge. Each step was higher than my knee. I was seriously thinking about giving up on finding out what that shining object I saw earlier was. I was only dreaming anyway why exert myself trying to climb this stupidly high staircase? All I had to do was stay in one place, until I woke up.

I heard some rock clang behind me and I turned around to see what it was. I was squinting in the fog but I didn't see anything. Shrugging my shoulders I turned back to the staircase contemplating if I should attempt to climb it after all. There was bound to be something interesting on top – there is always something interesting on the top of a mountain.

A rock moved behind me again and I whirled around as quickly as I was able to, trying to catch a glimpse of what was moving behind me. Once was a coincidence but twice was highly suspicious.

I was straining my eyes and ears waiting for something, anything to happen. My patience was rewarded and I saw something move in the fog. A big bulk was moving closer and closer to me its shape was getting sharper as it got nearer.

Then it was in front of me. And I really wished the fog was thicker. Standing several steps in front of me was the biggest freaking spider I’ve seen. It was bigger than me in height (at least its back end was) and it was full of spikes and eyes and it was looking straight at me. All of its six, eight, twelve… all of its eyes were looking at me and its mandibles were flicking irritably – almost as if it was sniffing me with them or preparing to devour me whole.

I’ve never been afraid of spiders in my life. If there was a problem with a spider I was the one who was sent to deal with it transporting it outside in a glass – I was not a fan of killing. I was pretty sure there weren't spiders as big as this alive. Even though this was supposed to be a dream and I was in no real danger I was unable to move a single muscle. I was staring at it completely motionless.

My state of immobility was broken quite quickly. Another two spiders appeared behind the first one. Their mandibles were clicking the same way as the first ones’ and it was creating a really creepy sound scaring me out of my wits.

Screaming at this point seemed like a pretty good idea and I promptly did so. Facing a bunch of spiders big as cows was not something I ever planned on doing. In the long run maybe it wasn't one of my brightest moves because another three spiders showed up as soon as I started screaming. Probably to investigate what choice piece of meat was on today's dinner. Now was the best time for a brilliant plan B.

I shut up, turned on my heel and started climbing those ridiculously high steps as quickly as I was able to. Every other step I looked over my shoulder to see how far behind me the spiders were. It looked like I was able to keep a constant distance between me and the spiders but just barely.

I was getting tired rather quickly because a fitness freak I was not. And the spiders were getting closer. Sweat was running down my back and the sides of my face but I couldn't give up. I had to hold on until I woke up. Surely I would wake up any second now. Wasn't the time when you are scared out of your mind the time when you woke up? I had no real experience with dreaming so I was just guessing.

The knees of my PJ's were dirty because I started climbing up on all fours in an attempt to gain speed. They were wet sticking to my legs uncomfortably. And then the stairs ended. I was looking dumbfounded at the end of the last step where there was supposed to be another step, but somehow wasn't.

Calm down, calm down. This was just a dream, wasn't it? Just a dream. Oh my god, I hoped this was just a dream… As I was panicking internally and hyperventilating externally a glowing hand suddenly appeared in front me. I was staring at it not quite understanding what I was supposed to do with it. Beat the spiders behind me with it?

A hissing sound rung behind me and it was so close that the hairs on my arms and legs stoop up in fright. I reached for the glowing hand which seemed to be connected to a glowing female form with a very strangely shaped head. Suddenly everything went white, blinding me with its intensity. I closed my eyes and tried to shield them with my other hand.

When I finally opened my eyes and lowered my hand I was no longer kneeling on the stairs. Instead I was on the ground in some ruins feeling disoriented and confused. Men dressed in an archaic armor were standing in front of me. I no longer heard any hissing noises which I translated as an absence of giant spiders. With a relieved sigh I fainted.


	2. Interrogation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had some free time so I wrote the second chapter, here you go:)  
> Also I found out how to get a better alignment for the paragraphs, it should look better now.

Something was pressing into my right hand uncomfortably and my left hand wasn't feeling any better. I felt really tired and didn't want to wake up yet. I blindly tried to move my left hand to find out what was pressing into me. As soon as I moved it I found out that my hands were connected.

My eyes flew open immediately in alarm. I saw that my hands were bound with some old-fashioned handcuffs. They didn't look like the ones used usually in TV where each part was connected with a chain. No, these cuffs were one solid piece of metal making any movement almost impossible. 

Something strange was happening to my right hand because it was softly glowing green. My hands didn't glow, ever. What the hell was going on? I clumsily turned my right hand around to investigate the glow emanating from it. There was a... gash in the middle of it. That gash was actually glowing, not my hand. I instinctively tried to touch it with my other hand but, of course, the cuffs stopped me and instead I only managed to shake my hands awkwardly. I tried to investigate at least with my fingers but it was pointless as I couldn't touch it properly. At least it didn't hurt, I consoled myself.

I finally looked around to find out where I was. Well, it looked like I was in some kind of dungeon to be honest. There were cells all around me but they were all empty. Why wasn't I in one of them? Why handcuff me and then keep me out of the cells? It didn't make any sense to me. Another weird dream, I would bet. I couldn't wait to wake up. I was really glad that my sleep was otherwise dreamless, if this was what dreams usually looked like.

Except for the cells there were four men dressed in armor pointing their swords at me. The armor looked like a uniform to me. I opened my mouth to say something but the look in their faces stopped me before I could utter a single syllable. They were watching me like I was a mass murderer. Their eyes were filled with anger, hatred and even fear. I had no idea what I did that would warrant this kind of treatment but who knows? This being a dream it could be completely anything.

Suddenly the gash on my right hand started sparkling and pain shot into my right arm. I gasped for breath and bent down to my knees trying to avoid the pain but it was inescapable. It took everything I had not to scream or cry. I tried to breathe through it and gradually it got better. This was much worse than pinching your arm and still no escaping this crazy dream.

When I looked up there were two women who must have come to the room while I was bent over my knees in pain because I hadn’t noticed them enter. The men holstered their swords and made room for them. They were probably VIP because their armor wasn’t the same as the men’s.

One of them was coming closer to me. She me had short black hair with a braid wrapped around her head. Her face looked rather stern, with sharp angles and there was a scar on her left cheek. She didn’t look like she was going to let me go anytime soon. Her armor had a white symbol painted on the front. It looked like glowing eye. On her hip there was hanging a sword and it probably wasn’t just for effect. Although, who would be using a sword when there were guns readily available?

The other woman was wearing some sort of chainmail and a cape over her face. Her features were obscured by the hood but strands of red hair were falling into her face. She looked much more approachable then the other one. Also I couldn’t see any weapon on her, which counted as a big plus in my book. Under her chin she was wearing the same symbol the black-haired woman had painted on her armor. It clearly had significance which was, unfortunately, unknown to me.

The black haired woman started slowly walking around me.

“Tell me why we shouldn’t kill you now,” she asked next to my ear and continued her circle around my person. She had a very strange accent I couldn’t quite place it, maybe German?

Wait... why would they want to kill me? This was not starting very well. Before I was able to come with an answer, the woman continued.

“The conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead. Except for you,” she accused me. She was again standing next to the other woman and both were looking at me expecting answers, which I didn’t have. What was the Conclave? And what did I supposedly survive? The only thing I remember surviving was bunch of spiders bent on making me their dinner. No other potential victims were there. It obviously wasn’t what they were referring to.

I didn’t get opportunity to say anything before the black-haired woman grabbed my right hand and showed it in front of my face. My left hand was, of course, yanked up along with my right one. Handcuffs were unwieldy but I was guessing that right now wasn’t the best time to try and convince them to take them off.

“Explain this,” she demanded. The gash in my right hand started sparkling again like it was trying to help the black-haired woman make her point. Traitor. At least it didn’t hurt as much this time. It felt more uncomfortable then painful.

“I can’t,” I said in weak voice. I had no idea how I got the weird gash in my hand.

“What do you mean you can’t?” Both women were coming closer to me, circling me like synchronized vultures. Was this some sort of intimidation technique? Because trust me, it was working rather well. My kneeling position on the floor didn’t exactly help either.

“I don’t know what that is, or how it got there,” I tried to explain in my weak voice.

“You’re lying!” shouted the black-haired woman and grabbed me by the shirt of my PJ’s. She looked really pissed off. Maybe I should have made some sort of explanation to placate her. I was getting scared. Why wasn’t I waking up? This was looking like a dream less and less. I could just start crying any second now, that would be mortifying and entirely unhelpful. Why, why wasn’t I waking up? I didn’t want to dream anymore.

The hooded woman tore the other from me. She thankfully made her take a few steps back, giving me some room to breathe and get myself under control again.

“We need her, Cassandra,” she said. I liked her more and more. The black-haired woman’s name was Cassandra; I would tip Helga or Winifred. Not that this information was going to help me escape this precarious situation. If I was going to get out of here I needed to pay attention.

“I don’t understand,” I tried to explain, because what was happening didn’t make any sense to.

“Do you remember what happened? How this began?” asked the hooded woman. She was looking at me intently. Whatever happened must have been important to her. But I couldn’t give her the answers she was looking for.

“I remember running. Things were chasing me, and then… a woman?” I was remembering my dream – I hoped this was what she wanted.

I felt lost. Nothing was familiar to me. Why was everyone wearing armor? Was it some new fashion statement I missed? That didn’t seem likely. Maybe this was a weirdo community living in the Middle Ages…

“A woman?” the hooded woman continued. She seemed intent on my answer, it was important to her. What should I say? I usually lacked tact on good days and was completely lacking any filter on my bad days. I really didn’t want to make this situation any worse than it already was. My best option was sticking to the truth.

So I did, “She reached out to me, but then…”

Before she could ask me anything else Cassandra interrupted her. I saw in her face that she would like to ask me more but she didn’t object.

“Go to the forward camp, Leliana. I will take her to the rift,” said Cassandra. So Leliena was the name of the other woman. I liked how it sounded. Well, at least now I knew the names of my interrogators. They were watching me again. Ok, they were staring at me and it was making me really uncomfortable. I looked down so I wouldn’t have to face them. I could feel my cheeks heating up; my fair complexion was a curse in disguise.

Leliana left without saying anything else. Cassandra bowed down to me and started doing something with the handcuffs. I was hoping really hard that she was taking them off. Could it be that I sounded believable in my ignorance?

“What did happen?” I dared to ask her, when she took the handcuffs off and helped me to my feet.

“It will be easier to show you,” she said and started tying my hands together with a rope which she materialized either from thin air or her belt. And I thought I was going to be finally set free. So much for that idea. Then she turned on her heel and walked out of the room. I cautiously followed her out of the prison.


	3. Delusions

As I walked out I was almost blinded by the light. It was rather dark in the dungeons and only light in there was provided by torches. It wasn’t nearly enough to illuminate the room.

When my eyes adapted to the light, my attention was immediately diverted to the giant swirling hole in the sky. It was the same green color as the gash in my hand. This couldn’t be a coincidence, I thought. Big boulders were floating around the hole it was sparkling with green energy and was surrounded by thick grey clouds. I expected a terrible storm to start any moment now but nothing was happening.

“We call it the ´Breach´. It’s a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour,” Cassandra explained to me. Not that anything she said just now made any sense to me. World of demons, what? She was obviously a few cards short of full deck.

This seemed like a dream less and less. Maybe I finally went crazy. Or somehow got transported into another dimension while I was sleeping… Ok, crazy sounded much more likely than some sort of interdimensional travel I admitted sadly to myself. My best course of action would be to follow the lead of my delusions until they played themselves out. I would surely snap out of it eventually.

“It’s not the only such rift. Only the largest. All were caused by the explosion at the Conclave.” Cassandra continued her explanation.

“An explosion can do that?” I asked dubiously while staring at the hole in the sky – the Breach. I’ve never seen or heard of explosions ripping holes into demon world.

“This one did. Unless we act, the breach may grow until it swallows the world.” That sounded rather exaggerated… dramatic much? To my knowledge the only thing capable of swallowing whole worlds was a black hole and this Breach in no way resembled it.

I shivered because I was getting rather cold. My feet were freezing and to say that my PJ’s weren’t meant to be worn outside would be a serious understatement.

I tore my gaze from the Breach and looked around to see where we were standing. Maybe I would recognize something. I could try screaming for help I was held against my will after all.

It appeared that I was in the middle of some medieval village. Wooden houses sat in front of me and there wasn’t a single car in sight, no indication of modern technology was visible to me. This was starting to look rather bleak. How detailed my delusions could get? My imagination was never that great.

The mark in my hand decided to sparkle ominously and sent pain shooting through my hand again. This time was worse than the others and I screamed falling to my knees. I was desperately trying not to move my right hand, to keep it still. The pain slowly faded away and I saw Cassandra sitting on her knees in front of me.

“Each time the Breach extends, your mark spreads… and it is killing you.”

Well, that didn’t sound good. Was she telling me that this stupid green gash in my hand was a death sentence? Then why was she threatening to kill me in the dungeon?! And couldn’t she make it sound a better way?

“It may be the key to stopping this, but there isn’t much time,” she said. Did this mean that she wanted my help when I was probably going to drop dead any second now? She must be getting rather desperate to ask a dying person for help.

“You still think I did this? To myself?” I asked her trying to defend myself somehow, to convince her.

“Not intentionally. Something clearly went wrong.” Wow, she was really stubborn and single minded there was no amount of convincing that was going to persuade her. I had to try anyway, what else could I do?

“And if I’m not responsible?”

“Someone is, and you are our only suspect.” At least she was honest. I wanted to hide and cry myself to sleep. None of this was making any sense. I’m sure I looked suspicious in my bright colored sleeping clothes but surely not dangerous enough to kill a bunch of random people.

“You wish to prove your innocence? This is the only way.”

It looked to me like I had two choices. First option was to help them do something with the Breach and die in the process. Second option was to die. Hmm, choices, choices. My short-term and long-term prospects were looking rather depressing at the moment.

“You say I may be the key… to doing what?” I tried to find out what she meant by helping. If she was expecting that I would let her cut my hand off willingly then she was gravely mistaken.

“Closing the breach. Whether that’s possible is something we shall discover shortly. It is our only chance, however. And yours.” That wasn’t cryptic at all. How was I supposed to close the hole in the sky? With glue?!

“I understand,” I said even though I didn’t understand anything. I was sticking to my decision to play along until a better plan presented itself.

“Then…”

“I’ll do what I can,” I said. She liked my answer even though it was delivered somewhat less than enthusiastically. I just couldn’t muster enough energy to sound more cheerful, marching to your death would do that to a person.

“I’m going to need some boots and warmer clothes than my PJ’s, if you want me to be of any use at all,” I pointed out rather insolently but I was feeling confident that she wouldn’t kill me anymore. She admitted she needed me for something and it made me feel somewhat safe. And it was getting really cold we must have been close to a pole or very high for the weather to be so cold already.

“Your… attire doesn’t look very useful. Come,” she said and started walking towards one of the houses nearby. I was slowly walking behind her. My bare feet were tingling painfully and I was hoping I didn’t get any frostbites during my walk in snow.

Cassandra was arguing with some woman who was glaring at me furiously. Rather than watching them I turned my head and looked around. Everyone else was looking at me with the same hate in their eyes. The destruction of that Conclave was some serious business. Their stares were making me really uncomfortable and I was wishing I could hide somewhere where they couldn’t see me. I averted my eyes before someone decided I was trying to challenge them to duel or something, you could never know.

Cassandra returned with something in her hand bud she didn’t give me any clothes. Instead she took me under my right hand and started to haul me forward. She must have noticed the hostile looks directed to me. They were really hard to miss.

“They have decided your guilt. They need it,” she said. As if she didn’t decide my guilt just like the rest of them.

“The people of Haven mourn our Most Holy, Divine Justinia, head of the Chantry. The Conclave was hers.” OMG this was some religious sect. I hoped they would not try to convert me or something. Chances were that they would fail anyway with my life expectancy so short.

“It was a chance for peace between mages and templars. She brought their leaders together. Now, they are dead.” Demons, mages, templars… my delusions were getting exceedingly extensive. Too much time spent reading and watching fantasy I would bet.

“We lash out, like the sky. But we must think beyond ourselves. As she did. Until the Breach is sealed. There will be trial, I can promise no more.” That sounded really comforting… not. I wasn’t going to live long enough to see that promised trial anyway.

I was accepting the news of my imminent death rather well. I thought about falling apart but it somehow didn’t hold any appeal to me right now. I was most likely in shock. That had to be it. I was sure it was going to catch up with me sometime later. I was not looking forward to it, not one bit.

“Here,” Cassandra stopped walking, cut the ties holding my hands together and handed me a vest made from sheep skin, judging by the wool and the smell. Why did she even bother to bind my hands when she was going to cut me loose few minutes later was behind my comprehension. I wouldn’t say that the vest handed to me stank but it was close call. When I put it on I felt almost immediately warmer and I decided I could put up with that horrible smell if it kept me warm. Then she handed me some sort of boots. I couldn’t tell what they were made from. I was more concerned with the fact that I obviously wasn’t going to be the first person wearing them.

I looked at Cassandra desperately but she made it obvious with her look that those boots were the only ones I was getting. To keep my feet free of frostbites I put them on reluctantly and, surprise, they were too big for me. I was going get some spectacular blisters very quickly.

I looked myself over as best as I could and I was sure I looked absolutely horrible. Fluffy beige vest was loosely hanging on me the bright blue sleeves of my PJ’s were sticking out of it. The trousers had originally the same color as the top did but several intimate meetings with the ground changed their color to dull brown with patches of bright blue where I managed to keep them clean. Lovely. On my feet shapeless colorless boots were finishing the outfit. Misfit outfit – maybe I would start a new fashion trend.

Cassandra saw that I was done dressing and waved to me to follow her, “Come. It is not far.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“Your mark must be tested on something smaller than the Breach.” She thought we had enough time to take a detour?

We were crossing a bridge. There had been some fighting going on, probably. Barricades were made from overturned carts decorated with wooden spikes.

“Open the gate, we are heading into the valley,” Cassandra ordered and the gates at the end of the bridge opened. It was like “open, Sesame” but I doubted it would work for me the same way it did for Cassandra so I suppressed my urge to say “close, Sesame” to see if they would close the gate for me. No fun.

Behind the gate I started climbing up a hill with Cassandra in tow. With the way she was hanging behind me it was pretty clear that she didn’t trust me not to run away if the opportunity presented itself. I couldn’t blame her because if I got a chance I would run away. I would just ignore her suspicion and continue playing along as best I would be able to.

There were flaming carts along the road we were taking. I wasn’t sure who set them on fire – the defenders or the attackers? And who was attacking this religious sect anyway? Were they going to attack me too because I was helping them? I really wanted to ask Cassandra all those questions but I opted to keep my mouth shut. My tact had the tendency to abandon me at the most inopportune of times. I was taking no chances with it.

The mark on my hand flared and it brought me to my knees, again. The pain was getting worse every time and it lasted longer. Much longer. Also I had a distinctive feeling that the pulses were coming quicker. I I was running out of time sooner than I expected.

Cassandra helped me to my feet. “The pulses are coming faster now,” she commented. No kidding, she was such a ray of sunshine.

“The larger the Breach grows the more rifts appear the more demons we face.”

“How did I survive the blast?” If it was such a catastrophe why wasn’t I torn into microscopic pieces of meat along with everyone else?

“They say you stepped out of rift then fell unconscious. They say a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was. Everything farther in the valley was laid waste, including the Temple of the Sacred Ashes. I suppose you’ll see soon enough.”

The beginning of what she said corresponded with my escape from spiders in the dream. Maybe it wasn’t a dream after all… I was really glad I didn’t know this while I was running from those spiders. That could have gone much worse than it did. I added spiders to my already wide array of delusions. They would have enough company there.

We continued our climb and soon arrived to another bridge. We went through the first gate and were crossing it when a green glowing rock fell from sky. It hit the bridge not too far in front of me. The bridge obviously wasn’t build to withstand rocks falling from sky because it crumbled under my feet. I desperately tried to keep my balance but it was a lost fight because the whole bridge fell to pieces under my feet. I at least covered my face while I was rolling down the broken pieces of the bridge.

Finally I stopped rolling and lifted myself tenderly on my hands. I landed on the frozen lake that was beneath the bridge. All around me were stones from the bridge, broken crates, fruit. And Cassandra. That was rather disappointing. For a split second I thought I could escape her. No such luck…

I was carefully standing up when another green stone fell into the ice some distance away from us. This time however something rose from the crater created by the fallen rock. It looked vaguely human in form, had a cape on its head, its hands had claw-like fingers and it was missing legs entirely. This was probably the demon Cassandra was talking about earlier because it looked completely hideous.

“Stay behind me!” Cassandra was screaming at me while she ran to face that scary demon with her sword bared. I had absolutely no problem following that order.

Before Cassandra reached the demon I heard a sound somewhere near me. To the left of me there was a green fog rising from the ice. Something was going to appear in the middle of the bubbling goo. I hurriedly looked around searching for a thing to use as a makeshift weapon. The only thing lying close enough was an apple. No weapons conveniently lying around for me to use – why must be my luck so rotten? I grabbed the apple ready to throw it at moment’s notice and stared as another demon emerged from the goo splayed on the ice. Right before it rose up from the goo, green crystals temporarily appeared but they disappeared almost as soon as they appeared and left behind only the demon. It was entirely possible I imagined the crystals it was so quick. The demon moved its arms up like it was stretching its muscles and turned to me.

“Bang,” that was my apple hitting the demon. I had to congratulate myself internally, my aim was true. Unfortunately the demon survived my apple assault completely unharmed and started approaching me with very strange creeping moves. Quickly. I turned on my heels and started running towards Cassandra cursing my too big boots. They were so loose that with every step I took I felt like I was going to either lose the boot or trip spectacularly. I was trying to get to Cassandra before the demon managed to catch me. She told me to stay behind her, right?

Unfortunately Cassandra had her arms full with the first demon if I wanted to survive this I needed to keep Cassandra alive. That meant keeping the second demon busy until she finished the first one. I really hoped that she would be strong enough to finish them both. I avoided Cassandra and her demon and turned around to check the state of my unwanted follower. He was still pursuing me. I was running a big circle around Cassandra waiting for her to kill her opponent I saw her disbelieving face from corner of my eyes. She must have thought I was a lunatic bud I didn’t have time to be embarrassed about my cowardice.

I tripped. I would be the first one to admit that I could be a bit clumsy, occasionally, but this was ridiculous. I was on a frozen lake. There was literally nothing to trip over. I was blaming the hideous boots.

I turned around on my back and supported my upper body with my arms. The demon was almost upon me. It held its arm above its head, ready to slash me.

“No!” I screamed. As the demon swung its arm I dropped my upper body back on the ice to avoid the attack. I managed to successfully dodge the demon. But I forgot to take its other hand into consideration. It was already falling down on me. All I managed was to lift my arms to ward it of or plead for my life, I wasn’t sure which, and to close my eyes. I desperately didn’t want to see.

I was lying on the cold ice for several seconds. When nothing happened I looked around. The demon pursuing me was hanging from the closest tree on the bank of the lake. He was impaled on one of the branches, screeching horribly in anger, and flailing around uselessly. Then suddenly it sort of melted down. I hoped it was dead and not performing some metamorphosis into even worse creature. How did he get on that tree? Did Cassandra save me at the last moment? That didn’t seem likely because she was nowhere near. Actually, she was approaching me from the right. There was a mighty scowl on her face and it looked like it was directed to me.

I lay back down on the ice because I felt completely drained from the fight. I just wanted to sleep for a little while. Surely a small nap wouldn’t hurt. I could avoid Cassandra’s scowl this way. Also my feet were aching; the run on the ice wasn’t helping the blister situation.

“You are a mage!” Cassandra accused me, her sword was pointed at my face.

“W-what?” I stuttered. What was she talking about? Me, a mage? That was just ridiculous I’ve never done anything even remotely magical in my life. I’ve never even tried parlor tricks. It just wasn’t my thing.

“You are a mage. How did you hide it from us?” She was still pointing her sword at me. It looked like she was deadly serious.

“I can assure you I’m no mage.”

“Then explain to me how that demon got on that tree!”

“I have no idea!” I screamed. I was fed up with all the accusations she was throwing at me right from the beginning. “Do you think that if I was a mage I would be running around in circles with that demon following me? Instead of, I don’t know, setting him on fire?! What is wrong with you?! You are constantly accusing me of something I didn’t do and you don’t even bother to back your accusations with evidence! I somehow got into this crazy mess and you expect me to understand everything while I don’t know anything! An hour ago you told me that I was going to die soon and you force me to spend my last hours on this word with you! Which is the last thing I want to do right now, by the way!”

At the end of my speech I was standing on my feet again and breathing heavily. Cassandra was clearly surprised by my outburst. Suddenly I was feeling guilty; it wasn’t in my nature to scream at people I didn’t know. Screaming insults to people’s faces was so not my thing and here I was doing exactly that. I was feeling guilty as soon as I looked at Cassandra’s troubled face. As the anger passed it left only the quilt behind. I hung my head, hiding my ashamed face behind my bangs.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean…” I started to apologize but Cassandra interrupted me.

“I was… just surprised. I’ve never seen magic like this. And you didn’t… behave as a mage would in such a situation… I was told you weren’t a mage.”

It sounded suspiciously like Cassandra was apologizing without actually saying the words. I nodded my head and hoped that it would be enough. Shivers were wracking my entire body and it wasn’t from anger or cold. Cassandra nodded once back to me and turned around obviously ready to continue with our journey. Then she stopped and looked back at me.

“I should remember that you did not attempt to run,” she added as an afterthought. I was running all over the place but I was aware that wasn’t what she meant.

“Take these potions Maker knows what we will face.” She handed me vials filled with a red fluid. I smiled at her in thanks but I had no idea what these were for. Maybe local form of energy drinks? I stuffed them into the pockets of the sheep vest and hoped I wouldn’t accidentally smash them.

“Where is everyone else?” I asked her, curious why she was the only one transporting a serious criminal – namely me.

“At the forward camp for fight. We are on our own for now.” What did she mean “for fight”? It sounded like the demons weren’t targeting only us. She also made it clear that we were not getting any reinforcements any time soon. Cassandra was the only thing standing between me and those monsters and she didn’t exactly adore me. I was so dead. This Breach stuff was shaping to be a bigger problem than I originally thought. No wonder that everyone in these delusions was quick to blame.

We continued our path up the snowy mountains. Even though our access to the road had been lost with the collapse of the bridge, Cassandra seemed to know where to go. She was marching confidently and I had trouble keeping up with her. She was half a head taller than I was and her longer legs ate the ground at alarming speed. I had to jog occasionally just to stay at her side.

We climbed on a small hill. Several green rocks fell on another frozen lake and transformed into demons again. They looked the same as the demons we encountered earlier. I also noticed a green ghost floating on a cliff overlooking the lake. Was it another kind of demon? They hadn’t noticed us yet. I turned to Cassandra looking for guidance because I honestly didn’t feel like running another laps around her. She could probably deal with them on her own. I would only be a burden.

“Ah, they are falling from the Breach. Stay here,” was all Cassandra said before she ran at the demons shouting angrily at them. I knelt down to hide my presence from the demons and watched avidly as Cassandra fought them. She mightily swung her sword around hitting the demons surrounding her. The green ghost was a shooter of sorts. I wasn’t sure what exactly it was shooting at her but it looked like a green energy balls. Cassandra blocked them with her shield.

Cassandra finally killed one of the two demons surrounding her. Unfortunately the other one hit her unprotected side while she was stabbing the first demon. She roared angrily and made quick work of the other demon. Then she ran to the ghost, hiding behind her shield to protect herself form the green projectiles and with a single slash of her sword made it vanish into thin air.

I rose from my crouch and slowly walked towards her. She was holding her right side where the demon slashed her and grimacing in pain. She pulled the same potion she gave me from her belt and drunk its contents greedily. When she emptied the vial she smashed it on the ground. That seemed a bit excessive to me. Why smash a perfectly fine glass vial that could be possibly used again? I wisely decided not to comment. Cassandra seemed to be feeling better because she stopped holding her side and continued marching after she reassured herself that I was still following her. At this point I had abandoned all thoughts of escape. I had no doubt that I would be killed on my own with those demons around.

I was thinking my situation over while I walked after Cassandra. My delusions were extremely elaborate. One person shouldn’t be able to create such a complicated fantasy out of blue. Cassandra said that the Breach was a hole to the demon world. Could it be that it was connected to my world too? It didn’t seem that farfetched… It was a serious possibility in my head now, although I would need another person’s opinion to be sure.

Cassandra took us up the stairs carved into the side of mountain. I had to slow down significantly because the steps were rather slippery with all the ice on them. The blisters on my feet weren’t helping the situation either but I didn’t dare complain. Cassandra didn’t strike me as the compassionate type.

“We are getting close to the rift. You can hear the fighting,” she commented. I hadn’t noticed anything but now that I concentrated I could hear some clinging in the distance.

“Who’s fighting?” I asked curiously.

“You’ll see soon. We must help them,” another no answer. I sighed and continued with my careful ascent up the stairs.


	4. Introductions

Just as I expected Cassandra knew exactly where we were going. When we reached the top I could see another destroyed bridge on my right. If we stayed on the path we were taking originally we would have probably gotten here this way. In front of me was what used to be a big building although now it was just a few incomplete walls. I couldn’t tell if the building collapsed recently or had been this way for some time. Given the current demon problem both option were viable. A green crystal formation was levitating in the middle of the ruins. It was changing its shape randomly and it was glowing the same color as my hand. What is it with green around here? Two men were fighting demons near the formation Cassandra didn’t hesitate and joined the battle, maybe she knew them?

I was hanging back not willing to join in the fight. I felt very strange pull from my right hand. Was it my imagination or was the gash emitting more light than it did before? I tried waving my hand around to find out where it was pulling me. It seemed that the crystal formation was the culprit behind that strange pull. I took several steps forward to the formation but didn’t dare to venture any closer because Cassandra and the others hadn’t managed to dispose of all the demons yet.

I was strangely attracted to the green formation. It was actually rather pretty. The light was making the crystals look almost pearlescent. I liked how it constantly changed I’ve never seen crystals do that. In my fascination I got even closer to the crystals without realizing I moved at all. I was standing only several feet away. Thankfully the fight was nearing its end. I didn’t think I was in any danger.

Someone grabbed my right hand and pointed it at the formation.

“Hey!” I shouted at the bold man invading my personal space.

“Quickly, before more come through!”

With my hand pointed to the formation I felt like there was a rope connecting the gash in my hand with the formation. With every passing second the rope tightened until I felt that it must give or… or something bad would happen. The formation was shining so bright now that it was almost impossible to see the individual crystals. I couldn’t stand the feeling anymore. I closed my hand into fist and tore it out of the hold the man had on in.

And the formation exploded. There were no pieces of crystal flying around it just sort of disintegrated into green mist and even that was gone almost instantly. Nothing suggested that there was a floating crystal not that long ago. It had been erased as if it never existed in the first place. This world was full of some extremely weird stuff. My hand was tingling uncomfortably and I cradled it to my body before someone else decided that they could wave it at something else.

I turned to the man who was holding my hand previously, “What did you do?”

“ _I_ did nothing, the credit is yours,” he answered.

“ _I_ destroyed that thing? How?” I looked at the man properly and OMG he had elf ears. They were pretty visible because he was bald. You couldn’t possibly overlook them. Real-life elf ears.

“Are those real? Like real, real?” I blurted out and took a step closer to him. He looked slightly taken aback from my enthusiasm.

“What?” he asked confused.

“Your ears. Are they real?” I was looking at him eagerly. There was magic in this world, right? Maybe they had elves just like in Tolkien’s books. “Can I touch them? Can you move them? It would be so cool if you could…“ I continued babbling unabashedly channeling my inner fan girl. There was a real elf standing right in front of me. I simply had to know.

“They… are real. You’ve never seen an elf before?” he asked.

“You’re the first genuine elf I’ve ever seen.”

“Interesting,” he commented looking at me with interest. He didn’t seem to mind that I was staring at him, very rudely I might add. He had grey-blue eyes and very pointy chin. He matched my image of an elf almost perfectly with his lean build. But to be honest I expected him to be taller. He was approximately the same height as Cassandra. Were elves around here smaller than humans or was he an exception? He was dressed in plain clothes with a pendant made form jaw bone of some unfortunate animal. And he didn’t wear any shoos.

“Aren’t you cold?” I asked him and pointed to his feet.

He followed my finger with his eyes seeing that I was pointing at his feet. He looked back at me and smiled a little, obviously entertained by my curiosity. “I am a mage. It helps me feel connected.”

Connected to what? That didn’t answer my question at all. Wait, mage?

“Mage? Like shooting lighting from your fingers, frying people with giant fireballs, creating water from thin air mage?!”

“Yes,” he was smiling now. Unbelievable, there before me was standing an elven mage. Would he give me an autograph if I asked for one?

“Awesome…” I said I’m pretty sure there were stars in my eyes now.

Cassandra cleared her throat pointedly somewhere behind me reminding me that this was not the time to be chatting idly. I snapped out of my fan girl state and felt my cheeks heat in embarrassment. Poor guy, I practically molested him I was lucky he didn’t fry me with one of his magical fireballs. I needed to seriously curb my curiosity.

He turned his gaze from me to Cassandra serious expression replacing the amused one. He didn’t have any problem with switching the topic back to the Breach business. Go figure.

“Whatever magic opened the Breach in the sky also placed that mark upon your hand. I theorized the mark might be able to close the rifts that opened in the Breach’s wake – and it seems I was correct.” He was very polite bowing a little. Humble even.

“Meaning it could also close the Breach itself,” Cassandra added. Finally an explanation making sense – at least a little. They wanted me to use the mark on my hand to close the giant hole in the sky… I looked up at the Breach. They were either really optimistic or insane.

“Possibly. It seems you hold the key to our salvation,” the elf finished. Cassandra probably got her ideas from him she didn’t strike me as the scholar type. Putting the fate of their world into my hands was bad idea. I could tell.

“Good to know. Here I thought we’d be ass-deep in demons forever.” I turned to the voice speaking behind me. It was the other man who was fighting the demons from before. He was small, smaller than me actually. I would say that he was a dwarf but he was… proportionate. Maybe he wasn’t a dwarf but a _dwarf_. His shirt revealed a big portion of his chest and chest hair. I had a feeling that it was on purpose. On his back was hanging a weapon I was unfamiliar with. A crossbow? He kept his strawberry blond hair out of his face with a tie.

“Are you a dwarf? I mean as a species,” I just couldn’t help myself. An elf and a dwarf – I wasn’t that lucky, no way.

“Never seen a dwarf before either I would bet,” he chuckled. “Varric Tethras: rogue, storyteller, and occasionally unwelcome tagalong,” he winked at Cassandra – brave man. She just frowned and made a disgusted sound in her throat.

“It’s good to meet you, Varric,” being polite never hurt. Finally a person with a sense of humor appeared. A funny dwarf – I should probably avoid any jokes about court jesters.

“You may reconsider that stance, in time,” that came from the elf.

“Aww. I’m sure we’ll become great friends in the valley, Chuckles.” The elf’s name was Chuckles? Weird and disappointing. I was expecting something more elfy…

“Absolutely not. Your help is appreciated, Varric, but…” that was our resident ray of sunshine beaming at us.

“Have you been in the valley lately, Seeker? Your soldiers aren’t in control anymore. You need me.” Varric was bumping his charm up to the max and surprisingly it worked. Cassandra made another disgusted noise but ultimately stopped arguing. She turned form Varric as if she could no longer look at him.

“My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions. I am pleased to see you still live.” A-ha! His name wasn’t Chuckles but Solas. Chuckles was probably just a nickname. I wondered if it had any meaning.

“He means, ´I kept that mark from killing you while you slept.´” Varric’s comment surprised me. Firstly Solas saved my life? And secondly how long I was asleep? I thought that I was unconscious for several hours tops but the way Varric put it I must have been asleep much longer.

I looked at Solas “Thank you.” If he saved my life it was the first time someone from this place actually helped me.

“Thank me if we manage to close the Breach without killing you in the process.” That wasn’t funny.

“Cassandra, you should know: the magic involved here is unlike any I have seen.” Solas was a magical expert on magic. Heh.

“Your prisoner is no mage, indeed I find it difficult to imagine _any_ mage having such power.” Prisoner again and I hopped I had moved from that hideous title.

“Understood. We must get to the forward camp quickly.” Cassandra started marching with Solas on her heels.

“Well, Bianca’s exited,” Varric said and followed the other two. Who’s Bianca?!

“By the way, my name is Faith, Faith Walker,” I shouted after them but no one seemed interested. Prisoner was apparently name enough for them. I hurried after them before I managed to get lost or killed.


	5. Camp

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A longer chapter this time. I decided to merge two chapters together.  
> Thanks for all the kudos, wasn't expecting it :*}

“This way down, the bank. The road ahead is blocked,” Cassandra pointed to a path hidden under small ledge and jumped down.

“We must move quickly,” Solas said and with Varric at his side went after Cassandra.

I reluctantly jumped after them. The impact jarred my feet. I had most likely just torn down several of the blisters. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. It hurt like hell.

“Is something the matter?” asked Solas. He must have noticed my discomfort.

“I’ve got blisters on my feet,” I complained.

“I may be able to help,” he offered. But Cassandra threw a deadly look at him and he reconsidered. “Perhaps later?”

I swallowed and nodded. I didn’t have the courage do against Cassandra’s wishes. When I was passing Solas I whispered gently with my eyes cast down, “Thank you.” I didn’t turn around to check if he heard me and concentrated on ignoring the pain. I thought that a short break would have helped. Instead my feet were aching more than before. I hoped the Breach wasn’t far.

To my disappointment we were going down the hill which meant that we would have to climb up again in a near future. There was another frozen lake in front of us. And more demons. I stayed back while the rest took care of them. They didn’t need my help anyway.

There were two houses built on the shore of the lake – fishing huts probably. Any other day I would want to explore but Cassandra was mercilessly, tirelessly marching forward so I abandoned that idea quickly.

There were two houses built on the shore of the lake – fishing huts probably. Any other day I would want to explore but Cassandra was mercilessly, tirelessly marching forward so I abandoned that idea quickly.

Just as I was afraid we were climbing another stairs. At this point I just mechanically put one foot before another. I was feeling numb. Like there was a blanket thrown over me that shielded me from everything – cold, insanity, pain, noise. Maybe not the noise because Varric’s voice managed to wake me up from the fog.

“So… are _you_ innocent?”

I actually thought about the question. Was I innocent? Could I have caused the Breach, it was unlikely but… “I don’t remember what happened.”

“That’ll get you every time. Should have spun a story.”

“That’s what you would have done,” Cassandra pointed out.

“It’s more believable, and less prone to result in premature execution.” My eyes just about fell out of their sockets. We were talking about executions? I really should close this Breach or else…

A group of demons emerged in front of us. I hid near a tree the demons weren’t interested in me anyway. All I had to do was wait until my party finished them off. There was a new kind of demon this time. It looked similar to the creeping one but it was bigger and had a helmet on its head. It was also stronger than your average demon at least judging by Cassandra’s expression. She was glaring at it from behind her shield fiercely. If she could shoot lighting from her eyes the demon would have been twitching on the ground by now.

Even with the reinforcement of the stronger creeper the demons were all soon disposed of. Cassandra was already turning to continue our trek.

Suddenly there was something behind me. I had no idea how I could be so sure but I just knew. I turned to look over my shoulder. Time seemed to move slower for me. I saw the green ghost demon hovering behind me. In its hand was a green ball prepared to be thrown on first unsuspecting person. Me. I screamed and flung my arm at the ghost as if I could swat it away like a fly. Imagine my surprise when it actually flew away from me. I had somehow thrown it away with my arm. It hit big rock and dissipated.

I was standing there stunned. What just happened?

“Mage!” yelled Cassandra at me. Again.

Her accusation snapped me from my paralyzed state. “What is your problem with mages anyway? You shout the word around as if it was the most horrendous crime ever.”

“Mages are dangerous. They need to be supervised,” was her explanation.

“You mean controlled?” I asked. There was a dangerous edge to my voice. Something was building inside me and I was close to snapping. If she tried to control me she was in for a nasty surprise.

Before she managed to answer me, Solas joined our conversation. “Faith, are you a mage?” he asked me gently. He even used my name. At least someone was listening to me.

“No, I’m not a mage. I’ve never even pulled a white rabbit from a hat. I have no idea how I threw that ghost.” I massaged my temples trying to relieve some tension.

“Why would you pull a rabbit from hat?” asked Varric curiously.

“Varric…” Cassandra was in no mood for his comments it seemed.

Varric put his arms up in surrender. Then he pulled a notepad form his shirt and started scribbling something with a piece of… was that charcoal?

“Solas, you told me that the prisoner wasn’t mage. How is this possible?” Cassandra asked.

“I do not know, Lady Cassandra. But we must hurry – there is no time to solve this riddle now.”

Solas and Varric moved up the hill but Cassandra stayed where she was standing and waited until I was in front of her before she followed. I was basically demoted to an untrustworthy prisoner again. At least the pace Solas set was a bit slower.

How could I throw that ghost around like that? I didn’t even touch him. It was like a form of telekinesis that manifested only when my life was in danger. I could learn how to control it… if I survived the suicidal “let’s close the Breach” attempt. I sighed.

“I hope Leliana made it through all this, ” Cassandra mentioned.

“She’s resourceful, Seeker,” there was something going on between Varric and Cassandra. He _was_ reassuring her. I would get down to it – if I had the time.

“We will see for ourselves at the forward camp. We are almost there.” Finally I couldn’t wait to get to this famous forward camp.

There was another crystal formation – a rift, as Solas called it – on top of the hill we just climbed, located in front of a gate. A closed gate I might add.

“Another rift!” Cassandra shouted right into my ear. She could shout really loudly, let me tell you.

“We must seal it! Quickly!” Solas sounded almost desperate… Odd.

I could feel the rift pulling on the mark uncomfortably. It wanted to connect to it. It didn’t even surprise me anymore when demons materialized from the rift – a green flash and hurray! party for demons was ready. It was a hole to the demon world; they had to come from somewhere after all.

The demons were cleaned up quickly and I lifted my hand up to the rift. Immediately it connected to it and I felt it pulling at me. When I couldn’t hold on anymore I closed my hand and threw it down severing the connection. The rift disappeared like the first one we encountered. It was exhausting. I was barely able to stand on my feet I needed a break.

“The rift is closed. Open the gate!” open Sesame the second time.

“Right away, Lady Cassandra!” came the muffled answer from behind the closed gate.

“We are clear for the moment. Well done.” Solas probably wanted to cheer me up. It didn’t work. I smiled weakly at him but I didn’t convince anyone.

“Whatever that thing on your hand is, it’s useful.” That’s one way looking at it. If it was Varric’s hand with the mark he wouldn’t be so quick to proclaim its usefulness.

It turned out that the forward camp was right behind the gate located on a bridge. If I were them, I would have chosen a different place to set the camp, my previous experiences with bridges pointed out serious flaws in their design.

In the back of the camp, you could also say on the other side of the bridge, was Leliena, the hooded woman from my interrogation, arguing with a man. He was wearing a weird hat and shouting loudly. I tuned him out and hoped that I wouldn’t have to deal with him. The argument wasn’t going his way – he was getting more irritated by the second. Cassandra went straight to them and joined their argument. After a brief hesitation Varric followed her but stayed out of the argument taking notes again. I couldn’t even muster the energy to ask him what that writing was all about.

I noticed a chest by the railing and went to sit on it. I put my face into my hands wishing that I was anywhere else but here.

“Are you alright?” Solas asked me.

I didn’t even lift my face from my hands and mumbled sadly, “No.”

I felt Solas move in front of me and kneel. “Perhaps I could examine your feet now that we have a moment. I may be able to help,” he offered.

I hesitated but what the hell. I wouldn’t get help from anyone else. I nodded and bent down to take the stupid boots off. It felt good to get rid of them. The air pleasantly cooled down my abused feet. I took closer look at them. It was bad but better than I expected. I had torn blisters on both heels. There were other blisters scattered on my feet but nothing as horrible as the heel situation. I had no idea how I was going to put the boots back on.

Solas examined each foot thoroughly touching them carefully. He was frowning. “This doesn’t look good.”

“No kidding,” I chuckled downplaying the situation. It didn’t work on Solas. He was looking at me disapprovingly.

“Let me get you a potion,” he moved as if to get up. I stopped him with my hand and pulled one of the potions Cassandra gave me from a pocket.

“Do you mean this? What is it anyway?” I asked.

“It is a healing potion.” That didn’t tell me much. Was I supposed to spread it on my feet?. After a moment when I didn’t do anything Solas ordered me gently, “Drink it, it will help.”

I didn’t trust it much but uncorked it anyway and downed it in a few gulps. It tasted like an herbal tea. It wasn’t even that bitter. It must have worked partially as a painkiller because the pain in my feet lessened. Solas was intently watching my feet. I looked down too.

The blisters were slowly disappearing. It was like a magic… wait, it probably was a magic. Soon all that was left was a new pink skin on my heels. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I reached down with my hands to check if everything was indeed healed. All I could feel was a smooth new skin. I felt strangely energized; the potion was also helping with the fatigue.

“Thank you, thank you!” I was smiling brightly at him. This was amazing. Instant blister cure. My mood instantly lifted. I giggled feeling elated.

Solas looked surprised by my cheerfulness for a second but eventually smiled back at me. “We should join the others,” he waved his hand in the general direction of the table with the rest of our group.

My smile vanished almost instantly. “Back to work it is,” I sighed mournfully and bent to put the boots back on. I desperately didn’t want to wear them but I lacked any other acceptable alternative. I could choose between blisters and frostbites. That was a no brainer, really.

Boots donned I approached the table where Cassandra, Leliana and the man were still arguing.

“Chancellor Roderic, this is –,“ Leliana started to introduce me. But she got interrupted by the man – Chancellor Roderic. How was she going to end her sentence I had no idea. She didn’t even know my name.

“I know who she is. As grand chancellor of the chantry, I hereby order you to take this criminal to Val Royeaux to face execution.”

I opened my mouth to protest but Cassandra beat me to it.

“´Order me´? You are a glorified clerk. A bureaucrat!”

“And you are a thug, but a thug who supposedly serves the Chantry.”

“We serve the Most Holy, chancellor, as you well know,” Leliana interjected.

“Justinia is dead! We must elect a replacement, and obey _her_ orders on the matter.”

“Isn’t closing the Breach the more pressing issue?” I pointed out the obvious. Holes to other worlds shouldn’t be kept around especially if they were spewing demons left and right.

“ _You_ brought this on us in the first place! Call a retreat, Seeker. Our position here is hopeless.”

“We can stop this before it is too late.” Cassandra definitely wasn’t lacking conviction.

“How? You won’t survive long enough to reach the Temple. Even with all your soldiers.”

“We must get to the Temple. It’s the quickest route.”

“But not the safest. Our forces can charge as a distraction while we go through the mountains,” Leliana added.

“We lost contact with an entire squad on that path. It’s too risky,” Cassandra didn’t like Leliana’s idea.

“Listen to me. Abandon this before more lives are lost!” Chancellor tried to get his way it was obvious that no one took him seriously. To undermine his position even further the Breach Swirled ominously and my mark sparkled in tandem underlining the need to close it. The pain was bearable – maybe the potion was still working? I was just glad that it hadn’t brought me to my knees again.

“How do you think we should proceed?” Cassandra asked me.

“Now you are asking me what _I_ think?”

“You have the mark,” Solas probably didn’t realize that I would do almost anything to get rid of that stupid mark.

“And you are the one we must keep alive. Since we cannot agree on our own…”

I say we take the quickest route. Whatever happens, happens now,” I liked Leliana’s idea better but I was afraid that I wouldn’t make it in time to the Breach.

“Leliana, bring everyone left in the valley. Everyone,” Cassandra ordered Leliana while we were leaving. I hoped there were a lot of soldiers in the valley.

“On your head be the consequences, Seeker,” said Chancellor when we were passing him. Well, if we succeeded, he wasn’t getting any credit.


	6. Rift

It was official. I hated mountains. Our _direct_ route to the Breach led us up. Couldn’t the Breach appear somewhere lower?

My companions were quiet. I was afraid to break the silence so I followed their example. My feet were starting to hurt again. Blisters two point zero were already making their presence known. I was predicting a potion drinking in my near future.

We made it to the ruins of another building without encountering any demons or rifts. There were injured people moving around so I guessed that the ruins were made into temporal infirmary. They didn’t pay us any attention more interested in their own bleeding problems. We passed them and walked out of another gateway. It was missing the actual doors this time.

Behind the gateway I could see another rift. A few soldiers were fighting the demons but barely managed to keep the demons from invading the makeshift infirmary.

The party went quickly to help the soldiers and I hid nearby. The fighting wasn’t nearly as interesting as it was at the beginning. I could see that some parts were just repeating themselves. The demons didn’t stand a chance.

“How many rifts _are_ there?” asked Varric during the battle.

“We must seal it to get past!” No kidding, Solas.

“Quickly, then!” said Cassandra and stabbed the demon standing before her viciously. Stabbing was her thing.

When the air was clear I went to seal the rift. I somehow closesd it quicker than before. Practice was helping big time.

When the rift was sealed Solas commented, “Sealed, as before. You are becoming quite proficient at this.” I was glad someone noticed if I couldn’t fight at least I could close the rifts swiftly.

“Let’s hope it works on the big one.” Varric didn’t sound hopeful, at all.

“Lady Cassandra, you managed to close the rift? Well done,” came voice from the left of us. A blonde man was approaching us. He was in heavy duty armor and there was a dead animal lying across his shoulders. I squinted at it – oh, it wasn’t an animal after all, just some sort of pelt. It made his shoulders look huge. He had a scar running through his right upper lip.

“Do not congratulate me, Commander. This is the prisoner’s doing.” Cassandra gave me credit. I homestly wasn’t expecting her to. She could really stop calling me prisoner I was cooperating. Commander… he was someone important then.

“Is it? I hope they’re right about you,” he wanted me to be a murderer?! “We’ve lost a lot of people getting you here.” I was relieved that he didn’t mean it that way. That would be cruel.

“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try my best.” What else could I say? I was no expert on otherworldly stuff.

“That’s all we can ask. The way to the Temple should be clear. Leliana will try to meet you there.”

“Then we’d best move quickly. Give us time, Commander.”

“Maker watch over you – for all our sakes.” What did he mean by Maker? Was it some god they worshipped? He rushed after the soldiers leaving the battleground. He helped one of the limping soldiers – maybe he wasn’t as high in the command as I assumed.

The next obstacle in out path was a jump from what most likely used to be a balcony to the lower level. The drop was higher than me but the others didn’t have any problems with it. They just jumped down gracefully. Well, except for Varric but you can’t expect dwarves to be graceful while jumping.

I stood on the edge undecided. Jumping down seemed too dangerous I didn’t have any experience to help me not to break my legs during impact. Cassandra must have noticed my absence because she turned and gave me a mighty frown. I gulped. Right, we were in hurry and all that.

I sat down with my legs hanging over the edge took a deep breath and jumped. As I expected my landing was poorly executed. I fell down into a crouch, lost my balance and broke my fall with palms of my hands scraping them in the process. I stopped in front of a body. It was still burning slightly, kneeling as I was. I got a close up view of the grimace in its face. Suddenly I felt nauseous. I scrambled back from the corpse as fast as I could. My heart was beating wildly in my chest. What happened here?

When I recovered from my unwanted encounter with the kneeling corpse I hurried after the rest. There were another bodies lying around but I was avoiding looking at them. That meant that the floor of the courtyard where we were standing on became the most interesting thing around.

“The Temple of Sacred Ashes,” Solas pointed to the destroyed building in front of us. I could tell it was our destination – the Breach was floating above it. With me so close, it looked huge. It was bigger than I expected. I had no idea how I was going to seal it.

“What’s left of it,” said Varric.

“That is where you walked out of the Fade and our soldiers found you. They say a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was.” Was Cassandra implying that all this destruction was my fault? Forget I asked; she probably was.

Cassandra led us to an almost intact corridor. It even had a roof. At the end of it a big rift was visible – green crystals lazily changing their shape. Another bodies twisted in agony were lying around. I had no idea what happened here but it must have been horrible. I felt shaken.

“The Breach _is_ a long way up,” Varric was looking around. He was right. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to reach the Breach so high up. It was directly above the rift.

I heard a noise behind us and turned around. Leliana arrived with men accompanying her. “You’re here. Thank the Maker.” Maker again? At least someone was happy to see me.

“Leliana, have your men take up positions around the Temple,” Cassandra went straight to business. “This is your chance to end this. Are you ready?”

No. “I’ll try, but I don’t know if I can reach that, much less seal it.”

“No. This rift was the first, and it is the key. Seal it, and perhaps we seal the Breach.” I was glad that Solas had an idea what to do. I was completely clueless.

“Then let’s find a way down. And be careful,” said Cassandra.

We went right, walking through a gallery of sorts.

“Now is the hour of our victory. Bring forth the sacrifice,” said a deep masculine voice. It came out of nowhere. Was I the only one hearing the voice? It gave me the chills. I didn’t like it.

“What are we hearing?” Cassandra asked confirming that I wasn’t the only one who heard the voice.

“At a guess: the person who created the Breach,” Solas suggested. I liked the sound of that – it could help me prove my innocence.

We were walking around strange rock formations. The rock had green glowing lines etched in the surface. Then the lines faded away and after a while appeared again. Probably some side effect from the Breach. Next to it was a crystal glowing red. That was a nice change of pace.

“You know this stuff is a red lyrium, Seeker.” Varric said like its presence had great significance. I had no idea what he was talking about – nothing new.

“I see it, Varric.”

“But what’s it doing here?”

“Magic could have drawn on lyrium beneath the Temple, corrupted it…” Solas was a walking encyclopedia he had answer for everything.

“It’s evil. Whatever you do, don’t touch it,” warned Varric. I was just reaching with my hand to do exactly that. I snatched it away immediately. People around here thought I was evil before I touched that stuff, no need to add to it.

I could see stairs leading down the rift. We were almost there.

“Keep the sacrifice still,” came the scary voice again. He wanted to sacrifice me?

“Someone help me!” this time it was woman’s voice. I wasn’t the intended sacrifice, she was.

“That is divine Justinia’s voice!” Cassandra sounded excited. She knew the woman who spoke.

We took the stairs down and jumped a small ledge. The rift was in front of us. The mark sparkled like it was sensing the presence of the Breach.

“Someone help me!” came the woman’s voice again.

“What’s going on here?” I couldn’t believe my ears. That was my voice!

“That was your voice. Most Holly called to you. But…” Cassandra was reluctant to believe that I was not the evil behind this.

The mark on my hand sparkled again but this time the rift reacted to it. It started shining brightly and then the light exploded. Before us was… a vision. Black shadowy shape with red glowing eyes was holding an old woman before him. Her arms were wrapped in a reddish fog keeping her suspended in air. She looked vaguely familiar. And then I came into the vision too. A vision version of me appeared. In the vision I was dressed in my clean PJs. It was very strange looking at myself. It felt somehow wrong…

“What’s going on here?” my clone asked – I could tell that I was confused.

“Run while you can! Warn them!” the woman’s voice was faltering.

“We have an intruder. Kill her, now!” the shadow didn’t appreciate my interruption.

The vision ended after that. Another flash of light blinded us and it was like nothing happened.

“You _were_ there! Who attacked? And the Divine, is she…? Was this vision true? What are we seeing?” Cassandra asked – shouted.

“I don’ remember!” I shouted right back at her.

“Echoes of what happened here,” Solas interrupted us, probably to stop the upcoming argument. What he said indicated that the vision was true thus supporting my innocence.

“The fade bleeds into this place. This rift is not sealed, but it is closed… albeit temporarily. I believe that with the mark, the rift can be opened, and then sealed properly and safely. However, opening the rift will likely attract attention from the other side.” His entire speech went over my head. There is a difference between closing and sealing? I thought that it was the same. And how did he expect me to open the rift?

“That means demons. Stand ready!” Cassandra shouted at the soldiers standing around. They adjusted their poses listening to her orders. Everyone was looking at me.

I had no idea how to open a closed rift so I just pointed the mark at it. It connected immediately but the feeling was… different. The connection started tense and gradually loosened. Before I could lose the connection entirely I closed my hand and flung it down like I did during sealing.

I could tell that it worked because a giant demon emerged from the rift instantly. He was grey in color. Purple lightning was dancing across its spike covered skin. Its mouth was full of thin spiky teeth with no visible nose. It had multiple black eyes and four twisted horns of top of its head. It was almost three times my height.

“Now!” Cassandra gave the order. The demon roared in answer and swung its hand around in impressive display of strength. Arrows flew at it but they didn’t inflict any serious injury. Cassandra charged it keeping its attention focused on her. I tried to stay away. I couldn’t get close enough to the rift to seal it.

Everyone was moving around the demon trying to find a vulnerable stop. The demon enlarged the pikes on its elbows. It used them both as a weapon and as a shield. One soldier wasn’t quick enough to duck and the demon threw him against a wall. He didn’t get back up.

Varric was standing at sidelines shooting bolt after bolt from his crossbow. One of them hit the demon right in the eye. Bull’s eye! The demon screeched in pain. It was hurting my ears, it was so loud. It was really pissed off.

“The demon is vulnerable – now!” Solas shouted prematurely because purple lines appeared from the demons hands crackling with electricity. They vaguely resembled barbed whips. It swung them in Varric’s direction bringing both of its hands down. I could see one of the whips nearing me. I dived to the left adding another scrapes to my hand. I thankfully managed to avoid it. From my horizontal position on the ground I could see that Varric also dodged the whip successfully. He was standing. That wasn’t fair. I hid behind one of the destroyed walls lying around and hoped that I wouldn’t get in its way again.

Cassandra gained the demon’s attention again; with her armor she had better chances to survive an attack if the demon hit her. I saw her concentrate her attack on one leg. Varric caught on and started shooting at the same leg. He was very accurate I never saw him hit anything but the demon.

The demon was slowly but surely being taken down. His movement wasn’t as quick. His end was near, hopefully. The long battle was taking its toll on my companions. They looked tired.

Cassandra managed to hit its vulnerable spot because the demon went down on one knee. Cassandra went straight for its throat now that it was within her reach. The electrical whip appeared in its right hand. I was pretty sure that it was its last attempt to defend itself. Cassandra ducked beneath it. I could see it sailing over her head and continuing its journey unstopped towards Solas who was accidentally in its way. He was just standing there.

“No!” I reached out with my hand helplessly. I was too far away to help him. The whip was almost on him. I could see him in my mind getting hit by it. Being electrocuted…

The whip never reached him. It hit an empty air and bounced back before it disappeared completely. I was staring at Solas with wide eyes. Did I do that? He was staring back at me. His face was mirroring my expression. I felt weak. There were bright lights dancing at the edge of my vision.

“Do it.” Cassandra woke me from my stupor and I turned to the rift already lifting my right hand. She must have killed the demon while I was staring at Solas. She wouldn’t have the time to order me around otherwise.

I felt the mark linking with the rift. Horrible. Painful. Overwhelming. I was afraid that I would be pulled into it. The connection was getting stronger. It was the same as sealing the smaller rifts only it was much more intense. My hand couldn’t be big enough to hold the connection. It was agony. My whole world shirked into my hand. Nothing else mattered. Just the pain, the pressure. I must’ve been screaming but I couldn’t hear anything. It was too much. Closing my hand was the last thing I did. Then darkness.


	7. Decision

I was slowly waking up. The bed was warm, comfortable; I didn’t want to get up yet. I turned on my left side burrowing deeper into the blanket. I opened my eyes just a little, squinting at my surroundings. I was in a cottage; everything was made from wood or cured animal skin and it all had a rustic feeling. I was prepared to go back to sleep when everything came back to me. The mark, the Breach, death sentence… I groaned I was still not back home and surprisingly alive. That promised trial was a possibility after all.

I saw an elf enter. She was carrying a box in her arms. When she noticed that I was awake, she dropped it down in surprise.

“Oh! I didn’t know you were awake, I swear!” She was behaving like she committed a crime.

“Don’t worry about it. I only–“ I started to reassure her but to my consternation she dropped to her knees interrupting me. She bent down until her face was touching the floor. What was this about? First hate and anger now bowing, these people were crazier than I was.

“I beg your forgiveness and your blessing. I am but a humble servant.” What?! “You are back in Haven, my Lady.” That was nice – but where is Haven? “They say you saved us. The Breach stopped growing, just like the mark on your hand. It’s all anyone has talked about for the last three days.”

I was unconscious for three days. That was… better than I expected. When the other alternative was death anything else was better. She was still kneeling on the floor. It was making me uncomfortable.

“Could you, please, get up?” I asked her. She looked surprised and distrustful but slowly got up from her knees.

“The Breach is still in the sky, but that’s what they say. I’m certain Lady Cassandra would want to know you’ve wakened. She said ‘at once’.” She was probably scared of her.

“And where is she?”

“In the chantry, with the Chancellor. ‘At once,’ she said.” Yup, she was frightened by her and by me. She almost ran from the cottage after her message was delivered.

For the first time I noticed I was no longer wearing my PJs. Someone changed me into light-brown long-sleeved shirt and trousers. I was barefoot and I couldn’t see any blisters on my feet. At least something was going my way I smiled. I ran my fingers through my long hair trying to tame it a little but it was a lost cause. I just braided it and let it be. The braid would hold for a while before it came apart.

I noticed a piece of paper on the table and took a look. It was a note describing my physical state after I collapsed. It was rather dire. I was lucky to survive according to the note.

By the bed there was a pair of shoes. I assumed that they were left there for me. I put them on. They felt new, made from a soft skin and reached slightly above my ankles. Hopefully I could avoid blisters this time.

With nothing else to do I sighed and went out to find Cassandra. I stopped after I took my first step outside. There were two guards standing before the small stairs leading towards the cottage behind them people were standing on both sides of the path leading from the stairs. Every single one of them was staring at me. If I wanted to get from the cottage I had to go around them. I hoped they wouldn’t start throwing stones at me. It would be pathetic to be stoned to death after I survived the sealing.

I hurried along the path to get the promenade over with as quickly as possible. I could hear them whispering “heroin” or something similar. Drug abuse?

I wasn’t sure where I was going but asking for direction was not an option. Where could Cassandra be? Every building I saw was similar to the cottage I woke up in. Nothing stood out. I took another stairs up. There was one building made form stone short distance away. Maybe that was the chantry the elf girl mentioned. I had no alternatives so I went straight there. If I was mistaken I would have to ask.

“That’s her. She stopped the Breach from getting any bigger,” said one of the soldiers I was passing by. I was getting credit that was something.

I reached the stone building and entered it tentatively. No one stopped me. The building had a religious feeling to it, a church perhaps. However nothing was familiar to me. I could hear voices coming from behind the door in the back. They sounded angry.

“She should be taken to Val Royeux immediately, to be tried by whomever becomes the Divine!” said a voice sounding suspiciously like Chancellor’s. It was muffled by the door but recognizable. If he was arguing then Cassandra was probably present. I took a deep breath, steeled myself mentally and entered the lion’s den.

“She should be taken to Val Royeux immediately, to be tried by whomever becomes the Divine!” said a voice sounding suspiciously like Chancellor’s. It was muffled by the door but recognizable. If he was arguing then Cassandra was probably present. I took a deep breath, steeled myself mentally and entered the lion’s den.

I was right. Cassandra, Leliana and Chancellor were all present. They stopped talking and turned to me. There was a big table in the middle of the room. Cassandra had her arms propped on it. The walls were lined with bookshelves. It looked like a medieval conference room.

“Chain her. I want her prepared for travel to the capital for trial,” Chancellor didn’t waste any time pointing his finger at me, literally or figuratively.

“Disregard that, and leave us,” Cassandra ordered the two men guarding the door. He rank must have exceeded that of Chancellor because the guards obeyed her. If I had to decide between those two, who to obey, I would pick her too.

“You walk a dangerous line, Seeker.”

“The Breach is stable, but it is still a threat. I will not ignore it.”

I felt the need to defend myself, “I did everything I could to close the Breach. I almost died in the process.”

“Yet you live. A convenient result, insofar as you’re concerned.” He was just never satisfied, was he? He was getting at my last nerve.

“You just want me dead, don’t you? It must keep you up at night that I _am_ still alive.” There was an oppressive silence after my statement. Chancellor was getting really red in his face. He was almost trembling in his anger.

“Have a care, Chancellor. The Breach is not the only threat we face,” Cassandra was trying to defuse the situation. Color me surprised.

“Someone was behind the explosion at the Conclave. Someone Most Holy did not expect,” Leliana entered the conversation. She was right. Someone had to be responsible for the hole in the sky if it wasn’t me – pure elimination process.

“Perhaps they died with the others – or have allies who yet live.” She was clever. Really clever. She just accused him of collaboration with whoever was responsible. I was afraid that her wit would be wasted at Chancellor.

“ _I_ am a suspect?” Pity he realized it. That could have been fun.

“You, and many others.” Please, let me not be on that list.

“But _not_ the prisoner.”

“I heard the voices in the Temple. The Divine called to her for help,” Cassandra was defending my innocence. I was surprised; I half-expected her to still believe that I was guilty. She didn’t seem to be the type that believed in visions.

“So her survival, that _thing_ on her hand – all a coincidence?”

“Yes!” I hissed while Cassandra said, “Providence.” We looked at each other and she continued, “The Maker sent her to us in our darkest hour.” This was bas, really, really bad.

She thought I was sent by a god. I would rather she started treating me like a prisoner again. Religion was so not my thing. But perhaps this was not the best time to admit my ignorance. Not in front of Chancellor. Better to concentrate on something else.

“So you’ve changed your mind about me.”

“I was wrong. Perhaps I still am. I will not, however, pretend you were not what we needed when we needed it.”

“The Breach remains, and your mark is still our only hope of closing it,” stated Leliana.

“This is _not_ for you to decide,” said Chancellor.

“You know what this is, Chancellor.” Cassandra slammed a thick books bound in leather on the table – some heavy reading. “A writ form the Divine, granting us the authority to act. As of this moment, I declare the Inquisition reborn.” She wanted to restore the inquisition? As in witch hunting, torture, oppression? I didn’t like it. “We will close the Breach, we will find those responsible, and we will restore order. With or without your approval,” that sounded much better.

After Cassandra finished her speech Chancellor looked at us and then left. Obviously Cassandra didn’t have his approval, no big shocker there. Cassandra just waved her hand in the air reconciled with his departure.

With Chancellor gone, now seemed like a good time to ask some questions. I was completely out of loop and I felt vulnerable.

“Who is this Divine you keep talking about?” they mentioned that name often. Both Cassandra and Leliana looked at me like I’ve just grown another head.

“What?” I asked uncertain.

“The Divine is the leader of the Chantry,” Leliana explained. There was suspicion in her eyes. This was most likely a common knowledge, me not knowing was suspicious to her. Her answer didn’t help me much either.

“And this Chantry?” I needed to know, “Is it a religion, like the Church?”

“How can you not know this?” Cassandra wondered, angrily – it was her default setting… “The Chantry is the biggest religion in Thedas. What is this… Church you speak of? I have never heard of it.”

Oh, this was not good, not at all. How could they not know about the Church? I assumed Thedas was name of some obscure state we were in. Geography was not my strong suit. Where was I?

“It is the biggest religious organization… where I come from,” I answered Cassandra’s question. “You know the God, the Pope, Jesus Christ,” from their expressions I guessed they didn’t know.

“Where do you come from, Faith Walker?” Leliana asked innocently. But the question was anything but innocent. The nonchalant way she asked it screamed danger to me. I hesitated not sure how much I should tell them. Telling them that I probably came from different world was dangerous – what if they considered me a demon and decided to kill me after all? I also noticed that she knew my name someone must have told her. That she decided to use it now was no accident either. She was subtly telling me she could and would get the information she desired.

“I come… from far, far away, you haven’t heard of my country, I’m sure…” I tried to evade Leliana’s question. She didn’t buy my answer, but she was unwilling to pursue it further, for now. Her light blue-green eyes were watching me from under her hood and suddenly I felt a chill go down my spine. She was scary, in a different way than Cassandra but still… I was going to be careful with her from now on.

Cassandra was losing her patience with my ignorance quickly and she gestured with her hand to me. “This is of no import now. We have no choice: we must act now With you at our side.”

Before I committed to this crazy scheme I needed to ask one last question. “What is ‘the Inquisition of old,’ exactly?”

“It preceded the Chantry: people who banded together to restore order in a world gone mad,” Leliana explained. It wasn’t a religious organization around here. That was a huge relief.

“After, they laid down their banner and formed the Templar Order. But the templars have lost their way. We need those who can do what must be done united under a single banner once more,” Cassandra added. That actually didn’t sound so terrible.

“What if I refuse?” I just had to know. Did I even have a choice in all this?

“You can go, if you wish,” said Leliana. I believed her. I was also sensing a but somewhere in that sentence.

“You should know that while some believe you chosen, many still think you guilty. The Inquisition can only protect you if you are with us,” added Cassandra. In other words I had to stay because I had nowhere else to go. Shoot. At least she was offering me protection for my compliance.

“We can also help _you_ ,” Leliana offered but I was suspicious of her now. What could they offer me? Was she subtly trying to get information from me?

“It will not be easy if you stay, but you cannot pretend that this has not changed you.” Cassandra was right about that.

“I will help you…” I had no other choice, really. Maybe someone would know how to get me back home.

“That is the plan,” Leliana just confirmed it. I had no choice.

“Help us fix this before it’s too late,” Cassandra was offering me her hand. I shook it. I was no longer a prisoner to her that was something. She smiled in answer satisfied with my acceptance. Leliana was smiling, make that smirking, behind her. She had no doubts about the outcome of this conversation. I suppressed the urge to stick my tongue out at her that would be childish. Right?!


	8. Declaration

My agreement was apparently the only thing separating Cassandra and Leliana from some serious work. I was shooed from the room almost immediately after the handshake. My question concerning sustenance was rebuffed with short, “Find Varric,” from Cassandra. The doors were slammed behind me. I could hear them speaking but they weren’t speaking loudly enough for me to understand them.

I went outside to find Varric. I stood before the church – chantry – thinking about where to find the dwarf. I had no idea where to look for him. I sighed and took the path to my right, if nothing else I could explore a little bit.

There were tents all around the place. I wouldn’t want to sleep in one; it must’ve been freezing during the nights here. People were still staring at me. Was this what celebrities felt like? I hated it but strangely was getting used to it.

I walked down some steps and saw Varric sitting at a bench near fire. I went to him.

“So, now that Cassandra is out of earshot, are you holding up all right?” Varric started the conversation. I was strangely touched that he cared about my wellbeing. He was the first one to ask. I sat next to him rubbing my hands in front of me to warm them.

“I mean, you go from being the most wanted criminal in Thedas to joining the armies of the fateful. Most people would have spread that out over more than one day.”

I sighed, “I’m just glad I’m still standing after all that.” Wasn’t that the truth…

“I still can’t believe you survived Cassandra. You’re lucky you were out cold for most of her frothing rage,” I looked at him questioningly.

“For days now, we’ve been staring at the Breach, watching demons and Maker-knows-what fall out of it. ‘Bad for morale’ would be an understatement. I still can’t believe anyone was in there and lived.”

“If it was that bad, why did you stay? Cassandra said you were free to go,” I remembered the conversation at the first ruins. If I could leave this place I certainly would.

“I like to think I’m as selfish and irresponsible as the next guy, but this… Thousands of people died on that mountain. I was almost one of them. And now there’s a hole in the sky. Even I can’t walk away and just leave that to sort itself out.”

“I’m still not sure I believe that any of this is really happening…”

“If this is all just the Maker winding us up, I hope there’s a damn good punch line coming. You might want to consider running at the first opportunity. I’ve written enough tragedies to recognize where this is going. Heroes are everywhere. I’ve seen that. But the hole in the sky? That’s beyond heroes. We’re going to need a miracle.”

There was a momentary lull in conversation. I saw Commander – the blond man with fur on his shoulders – walk past us. He was in hurry, probably summoned by Cassandra. It was funny how everyone was trying not to anger her.

“What’s up with you and Cassandra?” I asked the first thing that came to me.  
“The Seeker? I annoy her she threatens to stab me, you know the drill.” I gave him disbelieving look. “Fine, I’ll spill. She may have interrogated me back in Kirkwall.” 

“Interrogated? Like intimidation, imprisonment, torture?” I asked horrified.

“Book stabbing, question asking, angry yelling kind of interrogation.”

I was relieved. And not convinced that was all there was between them. However I let it go due to more pressing matters, like my empty stomach.

“So, what do I have to do to get some food around here?” I asked.

Varric stood, “Come with me. I can’t promise that the food will be edible but you can always wash away the taste with ale.” He was leading me towards the building on our right. I could hear noise coming out of it. Loud boisterous noise.

We walked in and all the noise stopped. Come on people, this was annoying. I pretended not to notice the sudden quiet and looked around. Varric took me to a tavern. It seemed like something he would do.

“Why don’t you grab us a table while I get what is considered food around here?” Varric suggested, his voice was loud in the quiet room. I nodded my head and went to the only empty table available. I didn’t feel like talking with people I didn’t know.

As I weaved my way through the tables the conversation gradually picked up. I sat down and looked at my hands waiting for Varric to return.

I didn’t have to wait long. Varric came with two bowls of porridge.

“Eat up, and remember I warned you about the food here,” Varric sat opposite of me and handed me a bowl of porridge with spoon stuck in it. I thanked him and dug in. It was not so horrible. I would call it tasteless and sticky. But I was hungry enough that it hardly mattered.

When I ate few spoons of the stuff I turned my attention from food back to Varric, “Varric, I noticed you taking notes during our… expedition. What was that about?”

“Collecting material for my writing. Maybe you have read some of my works? The Tale of the Champion?” I shook my head. “Hard in Hightown?” Another shake of my head, Varric seemed reluctant to add the next one, “Swords and Shields?” I shook my head again. It was obvious that he was not used to people not knowing his books and was a bit out of balance.

“Ha-ha, you look so shocked! If it means so much to you I’ll read one,” I winked, teasing him, “Any recommendations?”

He laughed too, “I would humbly recommend The Tale of the Champion.” He bowed a little. “My best work, if I say so myself.”

“Where’s your fancy crossbow?” It wasn’t hanging on his back. He seemed quite attached to it.

“Bianca? S-”

“You named your weapon?” I interrupted before he could continue. There was a story behind the name I could feel it. I leaned a little bit closer to him eager to hear it?

“Mirabelle was taken.”

“Come on, Varric. There is a story. You introduced yourself as a story teller. So where is the storytelling?” I needled him.

“Nope. Not telling, Little One.”

I made a disappointed sound in my throat. Then I stopped.

“Did you just call me ‘Little One’?” I asked him dangerously. I frowned. “A: I am not small. B: You are smaller than me. How can you call me ‘Little One’, when I’m taller? My height is perfectly average I assure you.” So I was little sensitive about my height. Sue me.

He held his hands up in universal sign of surrender, “Calm down, calm down, I was just testing it out. I was off, anyway.” He rubbed his chin watching me intently. I narrowed my eyes on him not trusting his intentions. “How about Braids?”

He was hinting at my long hair, “Very original.”

“Then… Cub?”

“No,” I was standing firm. And “Cub” was horrible.

“You are a hard nut to crack. I’ll come with something that fits, eventually,” he threatened.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I groaned.

“Two royals say you’ll like it.” I assumed that “royal” was currency used here.

“Confident much?”

“What can I say, it’s a talent,” he was grinning from ear to ear and so was I. I liked him.

“I would take that bet,” I said pretending to think about it, “but I’m broke… Only things I could bet are my clothes.”

“You realize I saw your clothes? That shit isn’t worth three bits.”

I theatrically put my hand to my forehead, “That was the latest fashion trend. You couldn’t tell?” I couldn’t keep straight face anymore and burst out laughing. Varric was shaking his head chuckling a little.

I was still laughing when I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I turned around and saw a soldier standing there. He wore the typical green armor people around here favored. He was young and fidgeting. And he blushed when I looked at him. What did that mean?

He cleared his throat again, “Lady Cassandra wishes to speak with you. Immediately.”

I turned back to Varric. He just shrugged his shoulders, “Better go before she orders her men to drag you there.”

I stood up, resigned, “Thanks for the food, Varric.”

“No problem, say hi to Seeker for me,” I wasn’t sure if he was being serious or not.

I turned to the young soldier. I couldn’t be that much older but somehow after events of the last day I felt old. “Lead the way.”

He led me from the tavern where I was enjoying my lunch back to the chantry. From below the stairs I could see Leliana releasing two evil-looking crows. They had a message attached to their legs, probably used as messengers like pigeons back home. Each of them flew in a different direction supporting my theory. After her task was done she walked before the chantry joining an olive-skinned young woman. She was wearing a golden clothes and had heir dark hair done in an elaborate bun. She looked a bit out of place with her glorious getup.

Commander was nailing some paper to the doors of the chantry behind them. The paper had the eye symbol I saw earlier on Cassandra and Leliana painted on it. I had to ask someone about it soon. Commander joined the women nodding to them.

We passed Chancellor on the way and he was making face like he just ate a lemon. The soldier led me to the group even though I could not see Cassandra around.

After we reached the group the soldier bowed and left me with them.

I turned to them confused. They were looking back at me with interest. It was making me uncomfortable and I blushed. I cleared my throat awkwardly trying to cover my embarrassment, “What…”

“Hush,” Leliana shushed me, “Now isn’t the time.”

I closed my mouth with an audible click. I could feel someone drawing closer and when I turned I saw Cassandra coming to us form the same direction I came. She got to us quickly with her quick marching. She stood with us while she intently inspected the village lying before us. There were quite a few people gathered and I expected her to give an inspirational speech. When she motioned for everyone to go to the chantry I was completely baffled. What was the meaning of this gathering when there wasn’t even a speech performed? The only thing I noticed was a new flag hanging from the window of the chantry. It had the eye symbol, again. That symbol was hounding me.

The others were inside the chantry before I started moving. Cassandra waited for me right behind the door. She didn’t start any conversation so I turned my attention to my hand. The mark was still there. It was still glowing but at least it wasn’t sparkling or hurting anymore. Quite frankly it was easy to pretend it didn’t exist at all if you set your mind to it, trust me. I could wear gloves to conceal it further…

“Does it trouble you?” Cassandra interrupted me from my musings.

“It’s stopped spreading, and it doesn’t hurt,” I smiled sadly. I wished I could get rid of it.

“We take our victories where we can. What’s important is that your mark is now stable, as is the Breach,” that sounded suspiciously like she was just repeating something she heard before – from Solas I would bet. “You’ve given us time, and Solas believes a second attempt might succeed – provided the mark has more power. The same level of power used to open the Breach in the first place. That is not easy to come by.”

So they wanted me to try again. I was almost killed by the first attempt and they just wanted to use more power? Maybe they had a plan; they had to have a plan; please, let them have a plan…

“Clearly you have something in mind,” I angled for information.

“We do,” that was promising.

We just reached the door leading to the conference room. Inside were the people from before. I looked at them uncertainly, was this supposed to be another interrogation?

“You’ve met Commander Cullen, leader of the Inquisition’s forces,” Cassandra started. I was relieved that this wasn’t interrogation after all.

The blonde man I saw nailing the paper to the doors was after all important. Why he was nailing stuff around was unclear. Maybe commanders around here had different duties than commanders back home…

“It was only for a moment on the field. I’m pleased you survived,” he smiled at me.

“Trust me, so am I, so am I.”

“This is Lady Josephine Montilyet, our ambassador and chief diplomat,” Cassandra continued with the introductions; this time indicating the extravagantly dressed young woman.

“I’ve hear much. It’s a pleasure to meet you at last.” She seemed pleasant enough. The wooden folder she was holding had a burning candle attached to it… weird.

“And of course you know Sister Leliana.”

“My position here involves a degree of…” Leliana started speaking but Cassandra interrupted her.

“She is our spymaster.” I suspected she was dangerous. Now I had it confirmed.

“Yes. Tactfully put, Cassandra,” Leliana admonished her.

“Um, pleased to meet you all,” I said uncertainly. What was I doing here with all these important people?

Fortunately Cassandra went straight to the business as usual, “I mentioned that your mark needs more power to close the Breach for good.”

“Which means we must approach the rebel mages for help,” stated Leliana.

“Why not approach the non-rebel mages?” I asked… and from the expressions on their faces they thought I was either extremely dumb or crazy. It was a valid question in my opinion. Obviously I was mistaken.

“Are you this ignorant or are you taunting us?” Cassandra asked exasperated. “Everyone has heard of the mage rebellion.”

“I’m…” I gulped. I felt like everyone, except maybe for Lady Josephine, was suddenly suspicious. This was a figurative minefield. And I’ve just stepped at one of the mines. All I could do was wait and see if it was armed. “I’m not from… around here…” I was not admitting that I was form different world. Not yet anyway, not until I was sure that I was safe in their company.

“And where are you from, exactly?” Leliana asked forcefully. I avoided looking at her. This conversation was a total failure, and it started so well. Open mount insert foot. When I didn’t answer her she continued, ”In the three days you were unconscious I wasn’t able to discover anything about you. That has never happened before… You are a complete blank, it’s like you didn’t exist before the Conclave.”

The silence in the room was oppressing. Commander Cullen was clutching the pommel of his sword tightly. Was he planning to chop off my head if I didn’t answer? What could I even say to defend myself that wouldn’t make this situation worse? Help came from the direction I didn’t expect.

“I’m sure Lady Walker poses no danger to us. We should focus on the problem at hand. Leliana, you were talking about the rebel mages?” Lady Josephine’s voice cut through the tension in the room instantly lightening the atmosphere. I was intensely grateful for her intervention. I smiled a little at her and she smiled back at me.

“Yes,” Leliana said slowly. “I think they are our best option.”

“And I still disagree. The templars could serve just as well,” Commander said vehemently. They’ve talked about this before.

“We need power, Commander. Enough magic poured into that mark –“ Cassandra objected.

“Might destroy us all,” Commander interrupted her. I had to agree with him it sounded dangerous to pump power into something that already exploded once. “Templars could suppress the Breach, weaken it so –“

“Pure speculation,” protested Leliana.

“ _I_ was a templar. I know what they’re capable of,” Commander growled deeply. He was very invested in the situation.

During their conversation I gradually eased towards the door. Maybe I could leave undetected while they were arguing. They didn’t need my input so far.

“Unfortunately, neither group will speak to us yet. The Chantry has denounced the Inquisition – and you, specifically,” Josephine brought the attention back to me. I froze I was so close to the escape I wanted to cry in frustration.

What was I supposed to answer? I couldn’t care less what their Chantry thought about me. “That was quick,” was all I said not willing to risk alienating them further.

“Shouldn’t they be arguing over who’s going to become Divine?” asked Commander.

“Some are calling you the ‘Herald of Andraste,’ and that frightens the Chantry,” explained Josephine. I rather didn’t ask what that meant. It could end in bloodshed. Josephine continued, “The remaining clerics have declared it blasphemy, and we heretics for harboring you.”

“Chanellor Roderick’s doing, no doubt,” commented Cassandra. That snake…

“It limits our options. Approaching the mages or templars for help is currently out of question.”

“So if I wasn’t with the Inquisition…” was my presence putting them in danger?

“Let’s be honest: they would have censured us no matter what,” admitted Commander.

“And you not being here is not an option,” added Cassandra. I was almost touched… They were probably feeling guilty after they banded together against me before. Still I was glad they reassured me that I wouldn’t be killed out of nowhere.

“There is something you can do,” said Leliana. “A chantry cleric by the name mother Giselle has asked to speak to you. She is not far, and knows those involved far better than I. Her assistance could be invaluable.”

“Alone?!” I asked alarmed. I wouldn’t survive even a day on my own. “That is not a good idea. Not at all.”

“Lady Walker is right,” Cassandra agreed with me. “She hasn’t been trained for fight. There is also the question of her magical abilities.”

Commander looked at me sharply when he heard about that, “You are a mage? Why wasn’t I informed immediately?” He was displeased that he was kept out of loop.

“I’m not sure if I am a mage, ok?” I was defensive. This people disliked mages for some reason even though they were willing to use their powers when they needed to. “I have moved some stuff around without touching it, that’s all.”

“She saved Solas from the pride demon.”

“It wasn’t like that… I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Maker’s breath. She is untrained apostate. We need to assign templars to watch her before she gets possessed by a demon. She could already be an abomination,” Commander was vehemently accusing me of something. I wasn’t sure of what but I wouldn’t just stand there and let him control my life.

“First I’m no apostate,” I said in clipped tones taking a step closer to the table. “I don’t even know what that means. Second there will be no templars following me around and spying on my every action.” I put my hands on table and leaned closer to him. I felt my hair come undone from the braid I put it in earlier. It fell around my face framing it in brown curtain. I paid it no mind. “And third. I. Am. Not. An. Abomination.” I was staring at him trying to intimidate him. I was not easy because he was a head taller than me. He was staring right back at me. Neither of us was willing to back down.

The charged moment was broken by Leliana. “Commander, we are not even sure if she is a mage. We should consult Solas first before we take any… precautions.”

We stared at each other for a while longer before he finally moved his light brown eyes from mine. He nodded to Leliana rigidly. What a prick. I moved back from the table my point made. I ruffled my bangs and put my hair behind my ears. Another crisis averted. This conversation was nerve-wrecking. I took a deep breath.

“I’m willing to speak to this mother Giselle, Leliana was talking about, but I’m going to need some training or escort,” I suggested moving on from that confrontation.

“I’ll make the arrangements,” Josephine offered.

I quickly checked if anyone wanted to discuss anything else. When no one said anything I walked out without another word escaping this horrible fiasco.


	9. Tree

I took a deep breath once I got outside the chantry. That was one heated conversation – I wasn’t usually so aggressive but they were so… so judgmental. It was annoying how everyone just went with it. If something didn’t give soon I would have to learn how to meditate or something. I had no doubt that they were discussing me back in that room but there was nothing I could do about it.

I wanted to leave this wretched place, badly. Unfortunately I had no idea how to achieve that. My next priority was figuring out if I was a mage. How cool would that be? It was highly important to everyone around and I got the feeling that mages were hated in this place. Maybe I could have kept it a secret if Cassandra hadn’t blabbed it out. There was no turning back now. I should find Solas to help me with it but that was exactly what others wanted me to do. I wasn’t in the mood to follow more of their orders. I would postpone it for now.

With no clear destination in mind I went to look around the village. I passed the spot where I met Varric before but he was not there. He was most likely still in the tavern. Not much time had passed since I was led away by that soldier after all. I didn’t want any company at the moment anyway so I walked down another stairs instead. The gate to the left was open. I couldn’t see any buildings in that direction.

I walked past some wooden constructions but I didn’t pay them any attention. I was fixed on spending some time by myself away from all this nonsense. I was glad that the sun was shining and it wasn’t windy. I wouldn’t say that I was warm but I wasn’t cold either.

The village must was located in a valley and I had to go up a hill. Except this time I enjoyed my walk. I didn’t have to adjust my gait to match Cassandra’s.

There was a great view from the top of the hill. I could see the village with small people moving around it, another big frozen lake and the mountains surrounding me from every side. The air was clear and refreshing. The only thing ruining the view was the Breach, still visible in the sky. I chose to ignore it for now preferring to think about other things.

I looked around to find a suitable spot to sit. A tree not far from the road took my attention. It had several low branches and it just screamed at me to climb it. I hadn’t climbed any trees since I was small but I wasn’t deterred. On the contrary it felt like the tree was daring me to climb it.

It was either as easy as I remembered or I got better at picking the easy ones to climb. I didn’t even have to perform any acrobatics to get up in its treetop. I picked a comfortable fork to sit in and leaned my back against the branch behind me. I still held on with my hands to the branch wedged between my legs but I was relaxed. I felt much better sitting high up in the tree.

Naturally my thoughts turned to home. I missed my parents and brother. They must have been worried about me. I was never the type to leave without notice. I missed them terribly. I got along with my family very well and they were my safety net. Safety net I was sorely missing now.

I felt a tear run down my face. It was the breaking point. I started crying uncontrollably. Tears poured from my eyes and sobs shook my whole body. I hugged the sturdy branch before me to keep from falling down. I might have keened a little but I would never admit such. I let it all out. It was unfair. It was horrible. I wished I could go home. I pleaded for it to end now.

I was not sure how long I was crying but afterward I was feeling drained. I hung from the tree like a corpse. My arms were hanging along my legs as I was slumped against the branch. My hair was gently moving in the breeze. My face must have been a mess I was glad I hadn’t any mascara on.

I closed my eyes enjoying the sun shining in my face. I could hear a shouting from far away but I couldn’t understand what it was about. I doubted it concerned me so I stayed put resting in my chosen place.

I stayed there for some more time escaping the scary reality of this strange new world. Eventually I decided it was time to join the civilization, or what passed for civilization in these parts. I carefully climbed down the tree paying attention in order to not fall down or slip. I didn’t need to add a broken ankle to the already extensive list of my problems.

I stretched once I reached the ground feeling a little stiff after sitting in one position for so long. I was surprisingly tired the crying took a lot of my energy. I hoped there was no rift sealing planned for today.

I took my time going back putting it off as long as I possibly could. I stopped walking after I went through the open wooden gate. Soldiers were running around chaotically. Did something happen while I was enjoying some alone time?

“I found the Herald!” someone screamed. I turned towards the voice. A soldier standing near me was pointing his finger in my direction. I looked around trying to find the “Herald” they were looking for but when a small circle of empty space formed around me I realized that they must have been looking for me. Great.

“I found the Herald!” someone screamed. I turned towards the voice. A soldier standing near me was pointing his finger in my direction. I looked around trying to find the “Herald” they were looking for but when a small circle of empty space formed around me I realized that they must have been looking for me. Great.

I was standing inside my bubble uncertainly. I couldn’t just disappear again even though I wanted to so. I just waited to see what would happen. I couldn’t believe they would start looking for me that quickly. I tried not to fidget but all the looks I was getting made that really difficult.

I could hear some murmurs from the back of my private circle.

“Let me pass,” I heard a deep voice. I recognized the voice. Commander was the owner. He was the last person I wanted to save me from this situation. I wasn’t angry with him anymore but I was standing in middle of his soldiers and I felt at disadvantage.

The soldiers parted their circle for him as he came closer. I expected him to start shouting or something but he just grabbed my elbow, tightly. It might have looked gentlemanly but it certainly didn’t feel that way. I was betting he was afraid that I would try to get away from him.

“That is all, back to your duties!” he ordered the men gawking at us. The circle dispersed even faster than it was created. Commander led me up the stairs probably taking me to the chantry again. I tried to free my elbow at one point. He frowned down at me fiercely and I hurriedly averted my face not willing to face his ire.

We passed Varric and I looked at him pleadingly. He understood immediately.

“Hey, Curly…” he started, was gifted with Commanders glare and stopped. That was one powerful glare.

He mouthed “sorry” as we went around him. So much for help from that direction I had to deal with this on my own. As I expected he brought me back to the chantry right to the conference room. No one else was there.

He let go of my elbow and closed the door. I took several steps back wanting to put some distance between us but not to be too obvious about it. He was standing still for a moment facing the closed door. Probably preparing a speech to shout at me or trying not to strangle me or something similar.

After few seconds he probably reached a conclusion and turned to me. He used the time spent staring at the door to compose himself because he no longer looked so pissed off.

“Where did you go?” he asked with a controlled voice, I could still feel the anger underneath. “We looked for you _everywhere_.”

“I needed some… alone time,” I admitted it wasn’t a secret anyway. “Everything that happened was… was overwhelming, ok? I needed time to process it.”

He was looking at me dubiously.

I sighed, “I spent some quality time sitting in branches of a comfortable tree.”

There was surprise in his face. “I… we… that is… we were,” he put a hand behind his neck not looking me in the eyes.

“Thought I was running away?” I supplied. I could guess what they thought about me – nothing overly positive I was sure.

He blushed a little, “After our… discussion it seemed likely…”

“Look, I have nowhere else to go. I wasn’t kidding when I said I didn’t know how to fight. I wouldn’t survive on my own for more than a few hours and that is if I was lucky…”

He signed, “I would appreciate it if you let someone know where you were going next time you wish for… some alone time.”

I thought about it for a while. It would make it easier for them to spy on me if I informed them about my whereabouts but on other hand it would be safer for me. Besides I couldn’t come with good enough reason to refuse it.

“I’ll tell someone next time,” I promised. “I’m sorry about the fuss. It was not my intention.”

He nodded and relaxed a little.

“If that’s all, I’ll go grab something to eat.” I took several steps towards the doors before he stopped me with his voice.

“If you would allow, I have something else to discuss.” I turned to him. He was standing closer and I had to lift my head to look him in the face. He was tall.

He took a deep breath and started, “It was pointed to me that during our earlier conversation I went too far with my accusations. Although, I believe that mages are dangerous and need to be supervised, for their own safety as well the safety of others, I wanted to apologize for any offense I caused. It was not my intention.” It all sounded somewhat prepared.

“Did you prepare that speech?” I asked amused.

He blushed and put his hand behind his neck again. He averted his eyes. “I… hm…”

He did prepare the speech. I chuckled. “Apology accepted,” I interrupted his stutering. “I don’t know the first thing about mages, I may have overreacted.” I’ve never been the one to hold grudges.

“Why do you know nothing about mages? What about mages from your own country?”

“We don’t have any mages where I come from,” I admitted.

“Not a single one? How is that possible?”

“No idea,” I shrugged. “It’s strange for me that you _have_ mages. For me to be one of them? Crazy and highly unlikely in my opinion.”

Before he managed to answer the doors went flying. Angry Cassandra entered and crowded me pointing her finger at me.

“You were trying to escape! If Commander’s soldiers hadn’t found you we would be unable to close the Breach! How could you be so irresponsible?” she ranted at me.

I was just staring at her dumbly my eyes must have been big as saucers. Did she really think that I was so selfish that I could just walk away?

Suddenly she stopped and looked at me more closely. I leaned slightly back to avoid her. “Were you crying?” she asked me.

I blushed and hid behind my bangs. I thought any signs of my crying must have disappeared by now. I was mistaken my eyes probably still had red rims and, of course, Cassandra picked up on it.

“Commander, it wasn’t necessary to make her cry. Everyone makes mistakes,” Leliana chided Cullen. Poor him he was almost as red as I was.

“I didn’t…” Commander started but didn’t get to finish.

“I didn’t…” Commander started but didn’t get to finish.

“That is simply not done, Commander,” Josephine’s voice came from somewhere, I couldn’t see her. Great, everyone was here. “Please, apologize.”

This was getting out of hand quickly. I needed to step in.

“Commander didn’t make me cry!” I shouted and everyone turned to me. “Also I didn’t try to escape FYI. I’m sorry; you thought that, I just needed to be alone for a while. Now with that done, if you’ll excuse me, I think I need to extract myself form this embarrassing situation and get a drink.”

I left the room shaking my head the entire time. I could hear Cassandra asking behind me, “What is efaiai?” I laughed, with a bit of distance they weren’t such a bad people. It was time to get a dinner. Outside the sun was already setting. It was getting chilly.

I went to the tavern looking for Varric but he wasn’t around to eat with me. Fortunately I had no problem getting some food. Everyone knew who I was and readily gave me what I asked for. I considered asking for the ale Varric mentioned but it felt too much like I was using those people. Moreover I didn’t particularly enjoy drinking alone. I just used that line before as an exit strategy.

It was porridge for dinner. There were pieces of, what I assumed was meat, in it but it didn’t taste particularly different from before. I was glad I was not a picky eater that could have ended badly. I quickly ate my ration which was enough to sate me, finished my water and left the tavern. There were more people than before and some of them were drinking very loudly. I managed to slip away unnoticed at least I hoped I _did_.

I wasn’t quite sure what to do now. It was cold outside after the sun had set and I didn’t have any place to sleep in. I stood there for a while considering my options. The most promising lead was another visit to the chantry. Surely someone from the leading four would be there. My decision made I quickly went there.

It was warmer inside probably from all the candles shining around. From the entrance I couldn’t see anyone.

“Hello?” I called out tentatively, moving back to the conference room. I couldn’t hear anyone speaking or moving around. I was so sure someone was there; it was disappointing to find out that it was empty.

I called out again just to be sure that it was deserted. Weren’t they afraid that people would steal stuff?

“Yes?” came from my left. I turned and saw Josephine standing in the door. “Ah, Lady Walker, may I be of assistance?” she asked.

“Lady Josephine,” I addressed her. “I’m actually looking for someone to help me with accommodations.”

“What seems to be a problem? I’m sure I’ll be able to help,” she motioned for me to enter the room. It was probably her office.

“I…” I gulped there was no gentle way to put it. I was blushing again, damn it. “I have nowhere to sleep perhaps I could…”

“Oh, were your quarters insufficient? I admit it’s a bit rustic but it should be sufficient…” she was frowning now.

“I have quarters?” I wondered I must have missed that.

“Of course, the cottage you woke up in is at your disposal,” she reassured me.

“It is?!”

She laughed, “You _are_ the Herald of Andraste, and we will help however we can. You already aided us with the rifts in the valley and the Breach. It would be unseemly for us not to return the favor.”

“Um… that is nice,” I wasn’t sure what to say to that. I did help them with all that. “I appreciate it.” I fidgeted a little. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Surely, Lady Walker.”

“Just Faith,” I corrected her. I was no lady and it was entirely too fancy for my tastes. It made me feel old.

“Then I insist you call me Josephine.” I smiled and nodded.

“Why does everyone call me the Herald of Andraste?” I asked my question.

“Oh, you do not know?” she didn’t expect that question. “They call you the Herald because of you pivotal role in the closing of the rifts. You helped us when no one else could. Also there are those who claim that they saw woman sending you to us when you walked out of the Fade claiming that it was Andraste herself. They believe you were chosen to save us all.”

I was shocked. They had high expectations and I feared what would happen if I didn’t meet them. It was also backed with religion if I understood correctly. It was becoming clear to me that I would need an ally with whom I would be able to discuss everything about my origin and such.

“No pressure, right?” I tried to lighten the mood. Josephine just smiled at me indulgently.

“I’m glad you came. I wished to discuss your training program If you could spare some time to walk through it with me?” She was so polite. She was talking about the training I asked for before. They were quick.

“Ok, what have you come up with?” I asked curiously. What would I need to possibly know?

“We assumed that since you are from foreign country,” at this point she looked up at me, searching for confirmation, “you are essentially unaware of past or current events. Is that correct?”

“That’s right,” I said dejectedly.

Josephine nodded brusquely and continued, “First we need to determine if you are indeed a mage. For that purpose I arranged a meeting with Solas in the morning. He promised to look into the matter and help you in case you’ll require it. He’ll fetch you for your lesson after breakfast.” So I wouldn’t be able to put it off indefinitely. Pity. On the bright side I would get to spend some time with an elf. “After lunch Varric offered to teach you about recent events. I’m sure you’ll enjoy his lesson. He’s got unique view on the situation and is a great story teller. You evening program is still undecided, I promise, I’ll arrange something during tomorrow morning,” she was beaming at me. I wouldn’t get any free time tomorrow. I hoped that the day after that would be better but I doubted it. They were trying to get me up to date as quickly as possible.

“It’s going to be a busy day,” I commented.

“It is, isn’t it?” My enthusiasm didn’t even come close to hers.

“Thank you for your help, Josephine. I think I’ll take my leave now. It’s been an eventful day.”

“That it certainly was. Good night, Faith.”

“Good night,” I wished her from the doors.

I grew even more tired just from imagining tomorrow. I got to my cottage without further delays. There were two guards standing watch before it but I didn’t bother with them. I just wanted to go to sleep.

Someone started fire in the fireplace and lit the candles strategically placed around the room. It was warm and cozy. I striped my clothes and washed in the cold water from the basin standing on the table as best as I was able. It was not pleasant and I sadly remembered showers. What I wouldn’t give for a shower right now.

There was a night gown lying on the bed I assumed it was meant for me and was grateful. I put it on and got in the bed. It smelled nice, probably herbs, and the sheets were crispy and clean. I was originally afraid I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep but my worries were unfounded. I was asleep almost immediately after my head hit the pillow.


	10. Mage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in updating, my schedule is rather full these days;) A warning - I may not be able to update next week at all...

I was sitting in the dungeon. It was empty and the flames from the torches painted my flickering shadows on the walls. I turned around confused. What was I doing here?

I walked out up the stairs into the Chantry. It was suspiciously empty. I looked inside the conference room and Josephine’s office but I couldn’t see anyone. I went out hoping to find someone, anyone. No such luck. There were only empty tents and buildings outside. It was completely eerily silent.

“Hello?” I called into the wind. It echoed around. Where did they all go?

“Is anybody here?” It was still quiet. The strange echo was bouncing my words all around the place making them repeat themselves over and over. It was disorienting I was in an open space there shouldn’t be any echoes at all.

“Faith?” I finally heard something else than my voice. The echoes stopped as the other person spoke. Suddenly there was Solas standing right before me. How did he get here I hadn’t noticed him walking to me?

“Solas, where is everyone?” I asked him. At least he was someone I knew, I was half afraid that demons would start to pour out of the sky again.

“You are dreaming,” Solas said looking around. “It would appear they aren’t a part of your dream.” This was unexpected. I was dreaming probably for the first time… again. That dream with spiders most likely wasn’t a dream after all if I was to believe that other people saw the glowing woman too – mass hallucination.

“Then what are _you_ doing here? Are you even real?” If I was dreaming he must have been just a figment of my imagination.

“Of course you aren’t,” I answered my own question. “You’re as helpful as ever with your observations. But why am I dreaming about _you_ in the first place?”

“I assure you I _am_ real. We are in the Fade,” Solas said slightly irritated.

“The Fade? Are we going to disappear or something?”

“No… The Fade is a realm where spirits and demons reside. It is separated from our world by the Veil. People can enter it while they dream.” I was starting to believe that he was real. I wouldn’t be able to come with such nonsense on my own.

“This is the demon world the Breach leads to?” I remembered Cassandra’s declaration. I started walking leisurely towards my cottage Solas followed me.

“That is correct although inaccurate.”

“Could they attack us here?” The way I was looking at it we were basically invading their world during our sleep.

“They could try to posses us but it is not likely,” he reassured me. I nodded my fears were put to rest for now.

“So, Solas, how did you find me? This is my dream, isn’t it?” I asked.

“I heard you calling. You were very loud,” he chuckled.

I blushed a little, “But _how_?”

“I am a dreamer,” I was looking at him blankly. He continued, “I can manipulate the Fade according to my will, affect the dreams of other people.” He was looking at me with interest, “Your presence in the Fade is very noticeable.”

“Huh?” that was extremely eloquent even in my dreams I couldn’t understand him.

“Let me explain: your connection to the Fade is strong. It is, perhaps, the doing of the mark, but it can be felt by others such as me. Dreaming mages in close proximity could probably feel your presence too.”

“You are telling that I’m connected to this… this world for dreaming people?” I asked him, “but this is the first time I’ve dreamt ever!” I pointed out to him.

“You’ve never dreamt before?” he sounded disbelieving.

“In my world I’ve never dreamt before,” I confirmed again.

He grabbed my shoulders, “In your world?” Oh no, that was not good. I was looking at him with huge eyes and suddenly I was afraid. I didn’t mean to say that it just somehow slipped out. And now he thought I was a demon or something.

He shook me a little, “Your world!?” he demanded an answer frowning down at me.

“I… I…” I didn’t know what I should say. I was confused, I started trembling. Was this a nightmare? I wanted to wake up, right now.

***

I sat up abruptly. I was back in my cottage. I was slick with sweat. It must have been a dream. I fell back in bed putting my hand over my eyes. That was scary. What would they do if they knew I wasn’t from this world?

I considered going back to sleep but my heart was beating so fast it was impossible. There was some light coming from the window, dawn must be approaching. I got up from bed. It was cold in the cottage and I shivered the fire must have died out during the night without anyone adding any logs.

I hurriedly put on the clothes from yesterday. It wasn’t like I had any other choice in the matter. I noticed a dark russet vest with light brown fur collar hanging from the hook on the door. Was it there yesterday morning or did someone bring it later? I shrugged and put it on. It felt wonderful; the collar was really soft keeping my neck warm against the cold wind. It had only one button and I had to search for a while before I found out where it fastened on the other side over my breast. It actually fit me rather well. I liked it immediately and I could tell it was going to accompany me everywhere.

I even managed to find a brush and a tie so I tamed my tangled hair and put it in braid. My bangs were getting in my eyes; soon it would be time to get them cut.

With my mood better I left the cottage to get some breakfast.

I arrived at the tavern. It was almost empty probably because of the early hour. I got a warm tea and toasts with butter for breakfast. I was glad it wasn’t porridge again. I couldn’t see Varric anywhere – too early for him I would bet – so I took a seat at an empty table eating my breakfast peacefully and occasionally sipping my tea.

After I finished my breakfast I was standing in front of the tavern undecidedly. I wasn’t sure if I should return back to my cottage or wander around. Josephine said that Solas would pick me up at the cottage but after that dream I wasn’t so eager to meet with him.

That decision was taken out of my hands when I heard, “Faith?” from my left. Solas was approaching me. “I was just coming to get you. Are you prepared?”

“Um, hello,” I wasn’t sure how to react. Was he in the dream with me or was it just my imagination? I decided to play it safe and assume that it was all just a dream, easier to deal with.

He motioned for me to follow him and we went to the group of three houses to the left of the chantry. We entered the first cottage on the right.

I was standing there fidgeting unsure what would happen now. He was supposed to find out if I was a mage and I had no idea how the process worked. I hoped it wasn’t painful or something.

“There is no need to fear. It is completely harmless,” he tried to reassure me but it wasn’t working so well. He saw that his reassurance didn’t help that much but didn’t bother to try again.

“If I could have your hands for a moment?”

I extended my hands not sure what he wanted to do with then but willing to trust him not to hurt me. He took my hands into his and closed his eyes. His face contorted a little in concentration. His hands were warm and I could feel that warmth spreading up through my arms to my shoulders and then into my whole body. It was actually pleasant like being submerged into warm water but… inside.

“This is unexpected,” he opened his eyes and stared at me. He was still holding my hands standing rather close to me. It was disconcerting how he looked at me so intently his eyes roaming over my face. Predictably my cheeks heated I wasn’t used to someone paying me so close attention.

“Um, what is?” I asked doubtfully.

“You are indeed a mage, however, you are not a type, for lack of better word, of mage I’ve ever encountered,” he was still staring at me. “It may have something to do with your origin.”

I took a quick step back and he finally let my hands go. Could it be he really _was_ in that dream? No, that was impossible… unfortunately this world seemed to be filled with existing impossibilities.

“How-what do you mean?” I asked I was tense.

“If you come from a different world, as you claim, it would explain the differences between you and ordinary mage from this one,” he was smiling kindly at me probably trying to put me at ease. It wasn’t working. I felt my breath quicken and my heart was hammering in my chest. He knew. He knew, was he going to expose me? I was panicking.

He slowly approached me like a skittish animal. I must have taken some steps back without conscious thought because I could feel the wall behind my back. I was looking at him wildly he literally held my life in his hands.

“It’s alright, da’len. Your secret is safe with me. It was not my intention to scare you. It’s alright,” he said gently as he was approaching me. It calmed me down a little.

“You won’t tell anybody?” I asked still uncertain.

“It is not for me to share. However, I must say that it explains a lot about you.”

I ruffled my bangs I was still nervous but he managed to put me somewhat at ease. When he didn’t say anything else I asked him, “You called me ´da’len´, what does it mean?”

“It means ´little one´ in elvish,” he explained.

“Oh, come on, this is rich. Just yesterday Varric tried to pin me down with that nickname and _now_ you come with the same? I’m not that small!” I protested vehemently. Seriously I wasn’t that small people around here were just too tall.

“Da’len, you most certainly are small,” he was laughing at me!

“Am not!”

He smiled indulgently, “You are barely taller than master Tethras.”

“That is not true!” I was scandalized, “I’m almost a head taller than Varric!”

He just stood there watching me get angry. Realization dawned at me.

“You-“ I pointed my finger at him, “You baited me!”

“I did no such thing.”

“You totally did and it _totally_ worked,” I groaned pitifully. He artfully managed to divert me from the thoughts of him finding out my secret. “Sneaky.”

He was surprised but then nodded understanding that I caught him.

“Shall we continue?”

“So you were saying I was a mage?”

“Yes, however, you are different. When I tended to you earlier I could not detect any connection to the Fade-”

“What does connection to the Fade have to do with being a mage?” I asked confused.

“Mages are people able to channel energy from Fade and use that energy to reshape reality. Your connection to the Fade determines your power as a mage,” Solas patiently explained.

“So other people are unable to dream?”

“They are able to dream but their dreaming isn’t as vivid as mage’s. Dwarves are the exception to that rule, they cannot dream.”

“You’re telling me that as a mage I can take energy from a dream world – the Fade – and use that energy to wish this world into changing according to my will?”

“Basically, yes,” Solas agreed.

“Hm, if I wasn’t connected to the Fade before how come I’m connected to it now?”

“I do not know. I’ll try to find the answers but it will take time. What is important that now your connection seems to be… boundless.”

“Boundless?”

“Every mage needs to draw on the connection consciously to channel the energy. This ability is measured by mana – each mage can channel only limited amount of magic. Mana can be depleted leaving the mage without the energy to cast spells temporarily. You appear to have endless mana. Your connection is kept open without your participation,” Solas explained to me slowly. It was important for him that I understood this part.

I nodded slowly, “Ok… but what does it _mean_ to me?”

“It might mean that you can cast infinite number of spells or that you might be unable learn how to control such an amount of power or any number of other things. I’ve never encountered a person like you before. I will need to ask the spirits.”

“Spirits?”

Solas explained to me that he often travelled in the Fade conversing with the people – spirits – living there, experiencing ancient memories, discovering ancient cities. It sounded wonderful.

“Could I do it too?” I asked eagerly. He laughed.

“What?” I asked.

“You are a very curios and open minded person, da’len,” he answered. “It has been a long time since I met someone similar.”

I felt my cheeks heating and I turned away hiding behind my bangs. I never knew how to accept compliments.

“To answer your question: I could show you but I suggest we wait until we know for sure how it could affect you.”

I nodded solemnly. He was right it could be dangerous.

He took the staff that was standing in the corner. “I think we should see if you are able to cast any spells,” he motioned with his staff to the doors.

I caught his robe in my hand before he opened the door. He turned to me startled.

“Solas, am I in danger?” I looked up at him beseechingly hoping that he would reassure me. “Now that I’m mage… will they hurt me?“ I asked haltingly. I was really afraid of what they would do to me after they found out. I was relatively safe in Solas´ cottage but the outside suddenly seemed extremely dangerous.

“I won’t let them hurt you,” he squeezed my shoulder and I believed him I _really_ believed him.


End file.
